Pro Stock #1 Qualifier: Jerry Tucker (Photo Courtesy Elite Motorsports)
By: Elite Motorsports
BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 17, 2024) – Jerry Tucker and the Mile Hi Light Beer / SCAG Power Equipment team earned their second No. 1 qualifying position of the season Saturday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
Tucker, who picked up the first No. 1 position of his Pro Stock career earlier this season at the Las Vegas Four-Wide event, handled his Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer machine to a 6.612-second pass at 207.78 mph during the second session on Saturday.
“We knew we had this type of performance in us. We went to Sonoma, and we were probably the fastest car, but I let the team down,” said Tucker who is looking for his first Pro Stock victory on Sunday. “We went over to Rock Falls and did some testing, and we were faster than Jeg [Coughlin Jr.] and TJ [Troy Coughlin Jr.] and Erica [Enders]. When the car is that fast, it’s a lot of pressure on a guy not to mess up a good deal.”
Tucker stayed consistent throughout qualifying opening the weekend with a 6.619-second pass at 206.76 mph on Friday afternoon before inclement weather postponed the second session to Saturday and Tucker laid down his No. 1 pass. In the third qualifying session, Tucker would run a 6.626 pass at 207.40 before closing out the night with a 6.619 run at 206.73. Tucker will start his race day with a matchup against Mason McGaha.
Elite Motorsports’ teams occupied five of the top six qualifying positions heading into Sunday raceday. Tucker narrowly held off teammate and six-time world champion Erica Enders and her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG team by .51 mph. Enders sits No. 2 with a 6.612 second run at 207.27 mph. For Corral Boots / Cuadra / Columbia Impex, Fernando Cuadra Jr. holds the No. 4 spot (6.619 at 205.35) with his brother Cristian Cuadra in fifth (6.625 at 206.54) and Aaron Stanfield in the JHG / Melling / Janac Brothers hot rod sits sixth (6.625 at 205.04).
“The Elite team is something, it’s hard to put your finger on. Everyone is pulling in the same direction. When you get this many different people and this many egos, it’s hard to keep everybody going in the same way,” Tucker said. “Erica Enders has been great to me, Jeg has been right beside me. Anytime you have that many championships trying to keep you in line, it’s kind of hard to mess up. My team is good that works on my car, so it’s really just up to the driver.”
Elite Motorsports will be looking for its seventh consecutive victory and ninth win in 13 races Sunday at BIR. Troy Coughlin Jr. in the JEGS.com / White Castle car started the streak at the New England Nationals followed by two in a row from Stanfield at the Virginia Nationals and Summit Nationals, Jeg Jr. picked up the fifth win at the Northwest Nationals just before Stanfield picked up his third of the season at the Sonoma Nationals.
“Winning one of these things is very, very difficult. Our team, Elite, knows how to win, I just need to learn how to win. I’ve had the fastest car, realistically, three times probably all year and I can’t get it done. Aaron Stanfield told me, if you just keep on dragging it up there enough times, it’ll happen,” Tucker said. “I have to learn how to race the fastest car. I kind of had it down on racing a slower car and there’s not much pressure. But when you have the faster car, it’s a lot of pressure. We have to learn how to win with a fast car. Our car and our team is extremely capable of winning.”
Eliminations as the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainers International Raceway will begin at 10:30 a.m. with Pro Stock taking the track at 11:35 a.m. Television coverage of the event will continue with a second qualifying show Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations will air on FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX) Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET.
