STANFIELD STARTED THE WINTER SERIES BEHIND THE
WHEEL OF A SCREW-BLOWN ELITE MOTORSPORTS LATE- MODEL CAMARO BEFORE SWITCHING TO SCOTT TIDWELL’ S HARTS CHARGER-BOOSTED‘ 69 CAMARO FOR THE WSOPM. get my feet wet and get used to driving one.”
Just when Stanfield was starting to get settled in to the screw-blown Camaro, a series of moves put Stanfield in Tidwell’ s silver Harts Charger-boosted’ 69 Camaro for the WSOPM. Justin Bond drove the car at the first two Winter Series races, qualifying No. 11 at the Snowbirds and fifth in the record-setting U. S. Street Nationals field. Bond wasn’ t able to compete at the Winter Series finale, and Tidwell and Freeman agreed that putting Stanfield in the silver car gave him the best odds at the WSOPM.
Qualifying got off to a rocky start. After a best of 4.225 across Thursday’ s two sessions, Stanfield went into Friday’ s three sessions in the No. 61 spot. It all turned around in Q3, though, when Stanfield ripped off a 3.582 at 210.05 mph to move up to No. 12. Tuner Chris Terry took another big swing in the fifth and final session, sending Stanfield on a 3.568-second pass to end up No. 8 on the final qualifying sheet. Finally, Stanfield was ready for his first race day start in Pro Mod.
“ We didn’ t just get in there right on the bottom. We went a ways up the ladder,” Stanfield says.“ I just wanted the opportunity to be able to compete and race, as I’ m sure every single other person out there wanted, so it was a great feeling. You could just see how much it meant to everybody just to qualify for that event. I’ ve watched a lot, but I’ ve never been in the thick of it, so it was definitely an exciting feeling.”
The Winter Series is quite a departure from what Stanfield has grown accustomed to in the
NHRA professional and sportsman classes. One obvious example of that is the random chip drawings that are used to determine pairings in eliminations. Despite such an advantageous qualifying position, Stanfield could’ ve ended up facing anyone from No. 1 qualifier Eric Gustafson to No. 32 qualifier Robin Roberts. That didn’ t faze Stanfield one bit.
“ I’ ve watched all these guys race and they’ ve never watched me race a Pro Mod,” Stanfield points out.“ They probably didn’ t know what to expect or how I would do, but to be honest with you, I wasn’ t too worried about who I raced. I don’ t mean that in the wrong way, just for the simple fact that I was going to go up there and just do my job and let the cards fall out how they fall out.”
Stanfield drew No. 10 qualifier Sidnei Frigo, who went to the final round at the Snowbirds. Stanfield left first before he had to give it a
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