Having Pro Stock drivers from the Elite Motorsports camp capture a No. 1 qualifying position is not uncommon.
After all, the stout team includes multiple time world champions Erica Enders and Jeg Coughlin Jr. in its ever growing stable.
Well, Saturday it was Jerry Tucker’s time to step into the spotlight for Elite at the 4-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Tucker, who is in his second season of competing in Pro Stock, grabbed the No. 1 spot for the first time in his career with his 6.612-second elapsed time at 206.61 mph at The Strip.
“It is pretty difficult to get these things down the track and I’m really barely past being a rookie,” Tucker said. “Then, the added pressure, I have Erica’s car from last year, so it’s used to winning. We had some trouble getting it down the track and everything just lined up and we made about three good hits this weekend.”
The Camaro Tucker is driving is the one Enders piloted to her sixth NHRA Pro Stock championship in 2023.
As a rookie last year, Tucker finished 13th in the final points standings. He won six rounds and qualified a season-best fourth at the fall race in Dallas. Tucker advanced to the semifinals in Chicago.
“It takes a year to learn how to drive (a Pro Stock car) properly,” Tucker said. “For the first five or six races you’re riding and then you are kind of herding it and maybe we are just now getting to where we can drive it a little bit.”
Tucker will be in a first-round quad Sunday with Troy Coughlin Jr., Dallas Glenn, and Chris McGaha.
“From No. 1 to No. 20 is all tough,” said Tucker when asked about the strength of the drivers in his quad. “Matt Hartford is bad to the bone, and he didn’t (make the show). There’s no difference from being No. 1 and No. 16, I don’t think.”
Tucker rolled off the trailer and clocked a 6.660-second run in Q1 Friday and then he was 6.670 in Q2. Then in Q3 on Saturday, Tucker and his team stepped up their game with his 6.612-second lap.
“When those guys start tuning the race car, if they can just get it down the track the very first time, it just takes a lot of pressure off,” Tucker said. “We got lucky, and it made a good pass and hooked up and went straight and I halfway did my job right, so it makes the weekend a little bit better.”
This is Tucker’s third career time racing in the 4-Wide format, and he doesn’t make too much of it.
“It is the same to me. It is no different to me,” Tucker said.
