For the better part of two seasons, the Pro Stock conversation has usually ended up in the same place.
KB Titan Racing unloads fast race cars, Greg Anderson and Dallas Glenn start stacking win lights, and everyone else spends the weekend trying to figure out how to slow them down.
On Saturday at Maryland International Raceway, the view looked a little different.
Elite Motorsports had fingerprints all over the scoreboard.
Aaron Stanfield beat six-time world champion Greg Anderson to win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Greg Stanfield climbed to the top of the qualifying sheets with a 6.482-second run at 212.39 mph, earning his first No. 1 qualifier since 2009.
No championships were handed out Saturday.
But if you’ve spent the last two years paying attention to Pro Stock, you understood why the Elite Motorsports camp walked away from Maryland feeling pretty good about itself.
Aaron’s victory carried weight because it came against the driver who has spent years serving as the category’s measuring stick.
“Oh, it definitely feels good to beat Greg Anderson on the hole shot,” Aaron said. “I think if we’re close enough to him, we’re going to have that opportunity. So I look forward to some more of it, and I’m going to try to stay on my A game.”
The win continued a strong stretch for Aaron and gave Elite Motorsports another sign that the gap between itself and KB Titan might not be as wide as it looked a year ago.
“I think our whole group has some momentum, and for sure it feels good to be turning on some win lights, especially against those KB guys right now,” Aaron said. “They’ve been tough to beat here lately, and it’s been nice to have some momentum rolling our way.”
Saturday’s story became even more interesting when the first round of the Mission Challenge paired Aaron against his father.
The family relationship exists in the pits and at the race shop. It disappears when both cars roll into the water box.
“It was good to beat the old man there,” Aaron joked after the round was over.
“Old man beat himself,” Greg fired back.
“I was trying to chop him,” Greg added.
The exchange sounded less like two professional racers discussing a national event and more like two racers who have spent a lifetime competing against one another.
“Of course, I think we probably bring the best out of each other, and we’re going to try to be perfect when we race each other,” Aaron said. “He made a heck of a run there and put him on the pole for the weekend.”
What happened later may have been the most overlooked accomplishment of the day.
While Aaron was collecting another trophy, Greg quietly accomplished something he hadn’t done in 17 years.
“I don’t even remember how long ago it was,” Greg said when reminded his last No. 1 qualifier came in 2009.
“It’s been a minute,” Aaron replied.
“It’s been a minute,” Greg agreed.
That might have been the understatement of the weekend.
Greg’s 6.482-second pass gave him the top spot and delivered a reward nearly two decades in the making.
“It feels great to have the number one,” Greg said. “It’s just a testament to all the hard work the Elite guys have put in to get these cars faster.
“And we’re the lucky ones to get to drive them, so it feels good to do it. Just I feel better if I can hold that big Wally tomorrow.”
For all the success the Stanfields have enjoyed in professional racing, Greg still views himself through a Sportsman perspective.
“Yep. Oh, that’s me 100%,” Greg said. “I’m just lucky enough to get to drive one of these cars. Yeah, no, I’m Sportsman 100%.”
That perspective probably explains why Maryland meant something more to him than another qualifying accolade.
“The cool part about this Maryland racetrack is in 1972 I was a kid hanging on the fence watching my uncle and my dad race, so that many years ago,” Greg said.
“So I have a lot of history here at this track, so it’s pretty cool for us to do good. We got a lot of people watching us here. It’s pretty cool.”
More than 50 years after watching family members race at the facility, Greg Stanfield returned to the same property as the No. 1 qualifier. That isn’t something many racers get to experience.
Neither Stanfield believes Elite Motorsports has suddenly solved every problem and Aaron made that clear.
“Definitely I think everybody’s able to take a little bit of a breath, but I can promise you they’re not satisfied,” Aaron said. “I think we all could agree we’ve still got a little ways to go.
“And they’re just heading down and keeping them working, and there’s no quit in them boys. I’m right there behind them. He’s right there behind them, and we’re going to keep pushing.”
Greg pointed to consistency as one of the biggest reasons the team has started making progress.
“Well, I think my car right now is really happy, so we’ve got to take advantage of that car being really happy,” Greg said. “So just making some really good calls and making some really nice runs and just putting it on the scoreboard.
“So that’s big for our team. I think everybody’s having a good time here getting these cars faster. That’s the end goal is to have them all fast. So they’re all working.”
