Aaron Stanfield and the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / Janac Brothers racing team powered their way a semifinal appearance Sunday at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park.
Stanfield, who was a semifinalist last year at the Arizona Nationals, entered the day as the No. 11 qualifier with a first-round matchup against teammate Cristian Cuadra in the Corral Tequila / Corral Belts / Cuadra hotrod. Cristian, the No. 6 qualifier, was too eager on the starting line going red by -.009 seconds. Stanfield would cross the finish line in 6.596 seconds at 209.33 mph.
In the second round, Stanfield matched up with up-and-comer Cory Reed. Stanfield outran Reed’s 6.603 second run at 209.10 mph with a 6.589 pass at 208.49 mph setting him up with a semifinal against Elite Motorsports rival Greg Anderson.
Stanfield’s JHG / Melling machine would have tire shake forcing Stanfield to push the clutch in early coasting to 16.603 seconds at just 50.14 mph. Anderson would lay down a 6.586 at 209.79 for the win. Despite the round loss, Stanfield still has a 15-7 win record against the six-time reigning world champion.
“Not a bad weekend for this JHG / Melling / Janac Brothers team, nut not the way we wanted it to go either. I felt like it was close to making it through low gear. We’ve got some things to work out, things we need to fine tune,” Stanfield said. “We’ll be out here testing tomorrow looking to do just that. Hopefully we come out in Pomona geared up and ready to go.”
Greg Stanfield picked up his first-round win of the 2025 season when he and the Janac Brothers Racing machine defeated teammate Troy Coughlin Jr. in the JEGs.com black and yellow Pro Stock car. In a tight side-by-side matchup, Stanfield would leave first and never trail for a 6.582-second pass at 208.75 mph defeating Troy Jr.’s 6.587 at 209.79.
Elite Motorsports will take on race three of 18 on the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series tour next weekend, March 28-30, with the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California.
This story was originally published on March 24, 2025. 
