{"id":104391,"date":"2026-07-20T17:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/greg-stanfield-takes-first-win-of-season-after-historic-all-elite-motorsports-semifinal-sweep\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T17:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:44:08","slug":"greg-stanfield-takes-first-win-of-season-after-historic-all-elite-motorsports-semifinal-sweep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/greg-stanfield-takes-first-win-of-season-after-historic-all-elite-motorsports-semifinal-sweep\/","title":{"rendered":"Greg Stanfield Takes First Win of Season After Historic All-Elite Motorsports Semifinal Sweep"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the fifth consecutive time that the Pro Stock category has been contested at Sonoma Raceway, Elite Motorsports has locked down the winner\u2019s circle with Greg Stanfield\u2019s second consecutive victory at the facility. However, the 2026 edition of the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals will be remembered for an even greater milestone: the first, all-Elite Motorsports semifinal round sweep in team history.<\/p>\n

The historic \u201cAll-Elite\u201d final four featured the veteran Greg Stanfield, six-time Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders, five-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr., and multi-time national event winner Troy Coughlin Jr.<\/p>\n

The showdown ultimately culminated in a final round against 50-time national event winner and JHG \/ Mellling \/ R+L Carriers driver Erica Enders and the event defending champion Greg Stanfield.<\/p>\n

Stanfield would rally for the holeshot victory driving his Janac Brothers Pro Stock machine to a 6.551-second pass at 211.30 mph with a .015 reaction to defeat Enders\u2019 6.550 at 210.97 with her .032 reaction time to capture a special 75th-anniversary NHRA Diamond Wally. The win extends an incredible Sonoma streak for Elite Motorsports, following event wins by Aaron Stanfield (2021, 2024), Erica Enders (2022), and Greg Stanfield\u2019s back-to-back triumphs in 2025 and 2026.<\/p>\n

Locking out the semifinals guaranteed an Elite Motorsports victory before the final rounds even fired their engines.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s huge for the team. It builds massive confidence in those guys,\u201d Greg Stanfield said of the sweep. \u201cI mean, this Elite Motorsports team has worked hard trying to get the cars back competitive. The KB [Titan Racing] guys have been so dominant, and it\u2019s great to have our sponsors that are behind all of us, to stick with us, \u2018cause it\u2019s been tough. Janac Brothers, Melling, JHG who are here today for what is another home race for them, CTech, Melling, Outlaw, all the people that have stood behind Elite. It\u2019s been really hard on everybody and it beats you up. Our team has consistently been working hard and it\u2019s starting to come around, it feels good. But you still got to keep your head down. You still gotta work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Stanfield\u2019s path to the winner\u2019s circle was filled with the kind of unpredictable drama that defines drag racing. In the opening round, a bizarre staging duel with his own son, Aaron Stanfield, set the tone for a wild afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst round was absolutely nuts. I mean, I really didn\u2019t know what happened,\u201d Stanfield explained. \u201cI had staged, and I\u2019d saw Aaron\u2019s light flicker, and I paused for a second. I think he was easing out on the clutch, so the light came back on. Honestly, I won first round on pure luck against Aaron. So that was my mulligan of the day. So I felt like, you know, we needed to be on top of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

After surviving the opener, Stanfield took down Mason McGaha in the quarterfinals with a 6.519-second pass at 211.43 mph to McGaha\u2019s 6.967 at 150.38 after he shoved the clutch back in. In the historic all-Elite semifinal he defeated teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. after the two veterans left the starting line at the same time. Stanfield had a clean 6.544-second pass at 211.15 while Jeg Jr. coasted to a 9.865 at 105.18.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was fun. I was pretty revved up today. I just looked at the ladder and went, \u2018Oh boy, this ain\u2019t good.\u2019 Got Aaron, got Jeggie, got all these, you know, heavy hitters,\u201d Stanfield said. \u201cSo I just try to do my part to not let everybody down. That\u2019s my and Aaron\u2019s goal when we\u2019re driving \u2013 to try not to let the team down. We had a great day today. I drove really good the last two rounds. Don\u2019t know how I did it, but, you know, when you get this old and you can pull that off, it makes you feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other side of the ladder, Erica Enders battled through Kenny Delco (6.520 at 211.00 def. 6.576 at 209.52), Matt Latino on a holeshot (6.535 at 210.90 with a .019 reaction time def. 6.533 at 210.05 with a .034 reaction time) and teammate Troy Coughlin Jr. after both the JEGS machine and JHG \/ Melling machine shook the tires (7.016 at 209.07 def. 11.712 at 115.07) before meeting Greg Stanfield in the final round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I race, I really don\u2019t look who\u2019s in the other lane, I really don\u2019t,\u201d Stanfield noted. \u201cI just try to focus on my side and what I can do and try to do the best I can. And the outcome\u2019s gonna be what it is. So that\u2019s kind of how I drive. Nothing gets me up on the wheel extra \u2013 not as old as I am. I just try to do that. I try not to let anybody down. These guys work their butts off, you know, and I\u2019m in a good position where I don\u2019t have to do the work today. In the past, you know, I did a lot of the work, so I just get to drive and enjoy it, which is pretty cool.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Erica Enders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI will admit, I really wanted Erica to win. I said it at top end and I\u2019ll say it again, she\u2019s my hero,\u201d Stanfield added.<\/p>\n

Clinching the event meant taking home a piece of history, as the NHRA celebrates its milestone 75th-anniversary season with limited-edition diamond trophies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s 75 years of NHRA drag racing, so it\u2019s huge,\u201d Stanfield said, smiling. \u201cTo have one is absolutely just phenomenal. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d get one this year, so it feels good to have one for sure. For all the guys at Elite Motorsports who work so hard, my team, all the sponsors have been behind us, everybody that helps me stay out here, this is for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the win marks an emotional high point for the team, Stanfield knows the bigger picture is shaping up to be an absolute dogfight as the NHRA Countdown to the Championship approaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t look at the points on my part. I just try to do my job and let how the cards fall, they fall,\u201d Stanfield concluded. \u201cI think this team is gaining ground on the competition. I think they\u2019ve backed up and we gained a little bit, and I think it\u2019s going to be good for the fans, good for the sport, to have an all-out freaking brawl at the end. That\u2019s coming. I hope it\u2019s that way, so it\u2019s just not a total domination on their part.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Elite Motorsports roster will have very little time to celebrate the historic sweep. The team packs up immediately for a quick turnaround as the summer stretch rolls directly into the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle next week July 24-26 at Pacific Raceays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the momentum\u2019s everything, especially with the way the Countdown format is,\u201d Stanfield said. \u201cSo if we can peak at the right time, it will be good. There\u2019s a lot of good drivers in the Elite camp so, I think if they can keep these cars moving in the right direction, it\u2019s gonna be fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published on July 20, 2026. \"Drag<\/p>\n

The post Greg Stanfield Takes First Win of Season After Historic All-Elite Motorsports Semifinal Sweep<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the fifth consecutive time that the Pro Stock category has been contested at Sonoma Raceway, Elite Motorsports has locked down the winner\u2019s circle with Greg Stanfield\u2019s second consecutive victory at the facility. However, the 2026 edition of the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals will be remembered for an even greater milestone: the first, all-Elite Motorsports […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}