Aaron Stanfield and the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / Janac Brothers Racing team rallied to victory Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.
After a lethal display on the starting line through the weekend, including a sharp .001 reaction time in the second round, Stanfield took the victory in the final round on a holeshot, cutting a near-perfect .002 reaction time to hold off a hard-charging Matt Hartford. Stanfield’s 6.626-second elapsed time at 208.75 mph was just enough to defeat Hartford’s quicker 6.597 at 207.98 mph by a thin margin of victory of .0064 seconds. It was Stanfield’s 16th career Pro Stock victory, overall 35th NHRA national event win, and his second victory of the 2026 season.
“I definitely knew I was going to have to be pretty good on the tree. Matt’s been driving good here and he’s had a bad race car. I knew I would have to grab some on the tree, and the old hot rod did just enough to pull the win off,” Stanfield said. “Every time Matt and I race, it’s a good race. I’ll be honest though, it’s no secret that it doesn’t matter who I line up against, once I put the helmet on, I’m trying to rip your head off. It feels great as a driver whenever you’re able to do your job and pull off a holeshot win like that.
“Sometimes I guess I just wake up on the right side of the bed, and I felt really focused this morning, and I did feel like I was going to have a decent driving day,” Stanfield continued. “The combination of having a clutch linkage in that perfect spot where the fuel is perfect, it puts me in a spot where I can drive good. I try to go up there and do the same thing every time, even in qualifying. I try to be as consistent as I can be.”
Stanfield balanced a massive workload over the weekend, pulling double duty behind the wheel of the JHG / Melling / Janac Brothers’ Pro Stock Car and the ProFlow Pumping Solutions / Modern Racing / Elite Motorsports Pro Modified car. He also, through the family business, Stanfield Racing Engines, tuned Factory Stock Showdown entries.
“I told (teammate) Erica [Enders] before we ran first round, I said, ‘We’re lucky I don’t put my helmet on backwards.’ But it’s definitely a balancing act and it would not happen without a lot of great people around me in every aspect of racing I’m involved in,” Stanfield explained. “Surround yourself with great people, and that is for sure what I’ve done. And I eat, sleep, and breathe drag racing. So that definitely helped.”
Stanfield’s win is a massive boost for Elite Motorsports as they continue their battle to close the gap on the competition.
“I know it means the world to all the guys and gals on the Elite team, and, you know, that’s probably the biggest motivation I have is to go out there and do the absolute best I can do, because I know the sacrifice, I know how hard they work,” Stanfield said. “I want to lay it all on the line and do my absolute best for them. We still have a little ways to go. But this team, after every race, they hurry up and get back home and they’re on the dyno trying to find some more power. We’ll be back on top; it’s just a matter of time.”
The Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series 2026 schedule takes a two-week break before hitting the West Coast for the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway July 17-19, race one of the two-race Western Swing.
