Stephen Bell Earns Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown No. 1 Qualifying Position at NHRA Nevada Nationals
October 28, 2023
LAS VEGAS (Oct. 28, 2023) – Stephen Bell and his Stanfield Racing Engines Chevrolet COPO Camaro picked up their first Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown No. 1 qualifying position of the season Saturday at the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
With his 7.786-second pass at 175.96 on Friday night, Bell held off the field of Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Mustang Cobra Jets and Dodge Mopar Challenger Drag Paks to earn his second career No. 1 qualifying position. Bell opened qualifying with a 7.844 at 176.35 before improving to his 7.786. He closed out qualifying with a modest 8.113 at 143.58 after lifting early.
“Being No. 1 is really a compliment to the Stanfield team and Dean and Dylan. They just do a great job,” Bell said. “It’s the first time in four or five races that we didn’t have a big weather change between Friday and Saturday. We kind of had the same conditions both days so we made a great run last night and we were on the way to make a pretty good run in that last session. It just got up a little too high, so I lifted because it wasn’t race day. No reason to push it just in qualifying.
“This car has been a really good car. It’s really the first new body style car so we’ve had it since 2016. We have a great handle on it,” Bell continued. “My car and Aaron (Stanfield’s) car are very similar. We’re fortunate and if I do my job in the car, hopefully we will have a great weekend.”
Bell, who picked up his first No.1. qualifying position in 2020 at the Texas Motorplex in Dallas, will matchup with David Davies and his DH Davies Racing Dodge Drag Pak in the first round of eliminations.
The No. 2 qualifier, Del Holbrook and his COPO will face off with Jesse Alexandra and Lee Hartman in his Drag Pak, who were quickest of the third qualifying session with a 7.797-second pass at 174.80 mph to jump from No. 5 to No. 3, will take on AJ Berge and his Dodge Drag Pak.
Eliminations for the Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown class at the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will begin Saturday with round one at 5:10 p.m.
First Round Matchups
No. 2 Del Holbrook vs. No. 15 Jesse Alexandra
No. 3 Lee Hartman vs. No. 14 AJ Berge
No. 4 David Barton vs. No. 13 Mark Pawuk
No. 6 David Janac vs. No. 11 Anthony Troyer
No. 7 Kevin Skinner vs. No. 10 Doug Hamp
No. 8 Scott Libersher vs. No. 9 Aaron Stanfield
About Flexjet
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Flexjet, Inc., a global leader in subscription-based private aviation, first entered the fractional jet ownership market in 1995. Flexjet offers fractional jet ownership and leasing and is the first in the world to be recognized as achieving the Air Charter Safety Foundation’s Industry Audit Standard, is the first and only company to be honored with 24 FAA Diamond Awards for Excellence, upholds an ARG/US Platinum Safety Rating, a 4AIR Bronze Sustainable Rating and is IS-BAO compliant at Level 2. Red Label by Flexjet, a market differentiator, which features the most modern fleet in the industry, flight crews dedicated to a single aircraft and the LXi Cabin Collection of interiors. To date there are more than 40 different interior designs across its fleet, which includes the Embraer Phenom 300 and Praetor 500, Bombardier Challenger 350, the Gulfstream G450 and G650. Flexjet’s European fleet includes the Embraer Praetor 600 and the Gulfstream G650. Flexjet’s helicopter division sells fractional, lease, and on-demand charter access to its fleet of owned, operated and maintained Sikorsky S-76 helicopters which boast 55,000 hours of safe flying certified by Wyvern and ARG/US and serving locations throughout the northeastern United States, United Kingdom, and southern Florida. Flexjet is a member of the Directional Aviation family of companies. For more details on innovative programs and flexible offerings, visit www.flexjet.com or follow us on Instagram @FlexjetInc.
Media Contact:
Elon Werner
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