BRADENTON, Fla. — NHRA Pro Stock star and multi-time Factory Stock Showdown world champion Aaron Stanfield added another significant accomplishment to his résumé Saturday night when he won the $150,000-to-win Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod presented by Red Line Oil at Bradenton Motorsports Park.
The final round was decided by just .003 seconds as Stanfield drove around newly crowned 2025/2026 Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service champion Peter Norton in a side-by-side race.
“All these racers are great racers – they are some of the baddest racers our sport has to offer,” said Stanfield, who made his Pro Mod debut in December. “It’s been cool to mix it up with them, and it’s unbelievable we’re gonna park it in the winner’s circle.”
PRO MOD
Aaron Stanfield has won in numerous classes on the NHRA’s biggest stages, but prior to the DI Winter Series, he’d never raced a Pro Mod. Stanfield drove like a veteran in the class, though, at the third and final race of the Winter Series, the World Series of Pro Mod.
After driving a screw-blown Elite Motorsports Camaro at the first two races, the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals and the U.S. Street Nationals, he came into WSOPM behind the wheel of a Harts Charger-boosted ’69 Camaro out of the Scott Tidwell Racing camp through a collaborative effort including Elite, Tidwell, and Modern Racing.
Stanfield qualified No. 8 in the field, marking the first time he qualified in a Winter Series race. In the first-round chip draw, he drew Snowbirds runner-up and Winter Series championship contender Sidnei Frigo. Stanfield left first and posted a 3.879 at 200.98 to get the win over Frigo and his 4.044. He stepped up in the second round over Greg Blevins Jr., as he left first again and laid down a 3.651 at 209.43 to defeat Blevins and his 4.405.
Stanfield met his toughest starting-line opponent, past PDRA Pro Boost world champion Tommy D’Aprile, in the quarterfinals. Still, Stanfield moved first and pedaled his way to a 4.033 at 193.65 to hold off D’Aprile’s 4.335.
“It was definitely a roller coaster of emotions,” Stanfield said. “I feel like I did a decent enough job to win. It was pretty wild. Today was literally the first day I’ve ever pedaled a Pro Mod car. We were able to do it good enough to turn on two win lights doing it. Hats off to the whole Scott Tidwell camp and all these guys working on this car – Spencer, Travis, and a big shout out to Chris Terry. He did a heck of a job this weekend.”
Stanfield drew 2024 No Prep Kings champion Shawn “Murder Nova” Ellington in the semifinal chip draw. Ellington lost oil pressure after the burnout and shut the car off, sending Stanfield down the track on a single. He rolled to a 3.614 at 210.37 to advance to the $150,000 final round against newly crowned DI Winter Series presented by J&A Service champion Peter Norton.
The final round saw Stanfield leave second for the first time all day, though only by six thousandths of a second. He reached the finish line first, though, as his 3.576 at 210.83 put him there ahead of Norton and his 3.585 at 210.57 by just three thousandths of a second.
“In heads-up racing, I don’t look over, but I could see him in my peripheral vision,” Stanfield said. “I could tell it was extremely close, but my eyes went straight for the win light and it came on. I don’t get excited in the car too much, but I was pretty pumped up that time.”
The WSOPM victory now joins a long list of accomplishments that includes NHRA national event wins in five different professional and sportsman classes, as well as three Factory Stock Showdown world championships.
“It absolutely goes up toward the top of the list,” Stanfield said. “I’ve never raced Pro Mod. This is the first event I’ve ever qualified for, and it’s incredible. Number one, it’s incredible that Richard Freeman let me drive a Pro Mod knowing that I’ve never raced one before. But Drag Illustrated and Wes Buck have done such a great job of making this ‘the’ event. I remember watching Erica [Enders] at this race last year, and I was like, ‘Man, I would really like to do that.’ It’s cool to have the opportunity and people to be able to do it. I’m just very blessed.”
Norton, Stanfield’s final-round opponent, secured the 2025/2026 Winter Series points championship the round prior when he defeated Randy Weatherford in a winner-take-all matchup. Piloting his Harts-Charger-equipped, Hurricane Motorsports ’69 Camaro, Norton used a .011 reaction time and 3.608-second pass to outrun Weatherford, who got loose and slowed to a 4.877.
Norton, a tractor pulling veteran, was picked up at the top end after the victory and given a police escort back up the track, where he was presented with the crystal trophy awarded to the points champion. Norton also received a $25,000 championship bonus.
“It’s surreal,” Norton said of the experience. “You look down here, you look at all these fans. I mean, you come through here burning the tires off and people standing around you. It’s the stuff you watch on TV. It’s the stuff you dream about as any motorsport you want to do.”
WILD CARD SHOOTOUT
When reigning WSOPM winner Steve King just missed out on qualifying for the main 32-car Pro Mod field, his chances at returning to the WSOPM Winner’s Circle didn’t end. Thanks to the Outlaw Light Beer Wild Card Shootout, a separate five-round race for the drivers who didn’t qualify, he got to race on Saturday. King, in Gene Pilot’s screw-blown “Savage 3.0” Corvette defeated Bo Butner, Frank Falter IV, and Robert Costa before going red by .002 seconds to Luis de Leon in the semifinals. When de Leon bypassed the scales, King was reinstated.
King made the most of his second chance in the second-chance race, leaving first against 2023 WSOPM Second-Chance Shootout winner Melanie Salemi in the $15,000 final round and charging to a 3.611 at 207.27. Salemi slowed to a 4.336 at 121.10.
“We’re happy with the win,” said King, who gave a shoutout to the Salemi family and their G-Force Race Cars and Resolution Racing Services. “Jon [Salemi] gave us a great car all weekend. Came up a little short on the A-feature to get into the main race, and those guys are lucky we didn’t get in there because we made some good runs today in the heat. During the night time sessions we’re not picking up like we need to, but during the day this car can run with any car here. A little semifinal round action there – I kind of feel a little bit down on that episode – I did red light but he bypassed the scales. I mean, how often do you get a buy-back round in Pro Mod racing?
“We had to run our teammate in the finals, and those guys were over here in the semis thrashing – all their guys, all my guys, we had the motor tore apart in a million pieces. We want both team cars in the final, which we ended up with.”
Super Bowl champion Fletcher Cox, who jumped behind the wheel of his nitrous-assisted “Training Day” ’69 Camaro after retiring from a 12-season career with the Philadelphia Eagles, went into WSOPM with a shot at the Winter Series Pro 10.5 championship. Led by multi-talented tuner Phil Shuler, Cox performed under pressure and secured both the championship and the $25,000 WSOPM Pro 10.5 event win.
Cox qualified No. 2 and set low E.T. of the opening round of eliminations, which also stood for low E.T. of eliminations. He left the starting line first every time, including the side-by-side 3.91-second race over Tim Partin in the semifinals that secured the championship, as well as the final round over fellow title contender Joel Wensley Jr. Cox ran a 3.928 at 190.78 to Wensley’s 3.973 at 192.85.
“I think the biggest thing about the Winter Series races is they bring the best out in you,” said Cox, who earned his first career win in PDRA Pro Street last season. “I look at it as, the first race we came here and went rounds. Second race, I don’t know what happened or what I was thinking. I went .400 on the tree and was the joke of the weekend. But the focus was to come here and win, knowing that we had a chance to win a championship. When ‘Training Day’ shows up, and this team that Phil Shuler and myself put together, we’ve got a chance to win. That was the most important part.”
After reaching the True 10.5 final round at the Winter Series-opening Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, Russell Stone broke through to get the $40,000 win at WSOPM. Driving his screw-blown ’69 Camaro, Stone set low E.T. in two of the five rounds and took the tree on a semifinal bye run to meet Bill Lutz in the final round. Lutz was shut off on the starting line because his screw-blown ’67 Camaro was leaking fluid. Starting line officials then directed Stone to take the tree, and he coasted to a 15.315 at 43.44 to get the win.
“I went up to stage and they were pointing at me,” Stone said. “I didn’t know if they were telling me I was broke or he was broke. I didn’t know what was going on. I killed the car and I told them I would wait on him, but apparently he had oil everywhere and got out of the car, so that was the end of it. But I was going to do the right thing and give him time if he needed time. I don’t like winning like that.”
Chris Scarlata doubled up in the Strange Engineering Lil Gangstas Championship Series presented by Melling Performance, securing the Winter Series championship and getting the event win. He drove his ’70 Nova to the final-round win over Breanna Edwards in her ’84 Buick Regal.
Rashad Jones dominated 4.60 Bikes, where he qualified No. 1 aboard his ’89 Suzuki and went on to run a 4.608 to defeat Bob Foster and his 4.625 in the final round.
Mitch Kalitta, son of two-time and reigning NHRA Top Fuel world champion Doug Kalitta, earned his first win in Super Pro behind the wheel of past NHRA Pro Stock world champion Bo Butner’s ’20 Miller dragster. His six-round path to the winner’s circle included a perfect .000 reaction time in the third round and a 4.404 on a 4.40 dial-in in the final round over Corky Markwart’s 4.734 on a 4.73 dial-in. It was Kalitta’s .007 reaction time that gave him the win.
The 6.50 Index final round was over on the starting line when Pat Nanney went red by .006 seconds, handing the win to Mark Horton in his ’82 Camaro. Horton ran a 6.534.
Dean Thompson raced to the win in 7.50 Index driving his ’72 Nova. He ran a 7.540 to runner-up Matt Tritsch’s too-quick 7.478.
Cameron Rich, son of BMP track prep specialist Wade Rich, picked up his latest Jr. Dragster victory with a final-round win over Cash Mattingly. Both drivers broke out, but Rich was closer to the 7.90 index with his 7.883.
