Erica Enders

The results may not be obvious, but Pro Stock driver Erica Enders and her Elite Motorsports/Mopar Dodge team continue to make progress in the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.  A semi final 4-Wide finish for Enders at the 7th Annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes on Sunday moved her up the standings in championship points to the No. 7 position.

We learned a lot this weekend,” Enders said. “We completely used this race as a test session for us. I’m glad we were able to learn some stuff, and we certainly made a move in the right direction. The things we figured out this week we’ll apply to Houston.  Our rigs were supposed to go directly to Houston, but they’re going to go back to the shop and we’re going to work on our race cars and try to do our best to win in our hometown next week.”

First round was a much better run for us,” Enders said. “But by no means was it a great run. That was encouraging.”

To me, that part’s easy,” Enders said. “That’s my job, to be focused. I really pride myself on my driving techniques. I try to perform as perfectly as possible every time. There are a lot of extra distractions here at this event, and I feel like we’re the best in the world. We proved it two years in a row, and we’re just going to keep getting better.”

Two-time reigning NHRA Pro Stock World Champion, Erica Enders has had a rough start to her 2016 season.    The 47th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals ended in another narrow first round loss for Enders, ultimately losing by a hundredth of a second, her third straight first-round loss this year.

We’re getting so close to where we want to be, and we knew making the switch to Mopar would take some adjustments, but it’s still frustrating when you lose a drag race,” Enders said, “especially when you consider all of the success we’ve had the last two seasons.”

 I could see ‘Brutus’ (Johnson) out of the corner of my eye the whole way down,” Enders said. “That’s one big advantage we have without the hood scoop any more — you can see everything. I just did my thing and tried to be perfect going through the gears, but we came up a fender short.”

I keep saying it but we’ve only had these Hemi motors for a month, so it’s new to all of us, but when Jake Hairston and Nick Ferri tell me there are big things to come, I believe them. The more and more runs we make and the more dyno time those two have, the better it will be.”

Enders and her Elite team have been wrestling with an entire new program – a new car, new NHRA mandated changes to EFI, no hood scoops, shorter wheelie bars, and the typical learning curve associated with that drastic of change.

 I know we’ll be alright and the guys are upbeat and telling me not to get down, but I suppose I’ve gotten a little spoiled. At the same time, I know we have the best team, the best crew guys, the best tuners, the best engine builders in the world under this awning, so there’s no doubt we’ll be back to our winning ways very soon. We just have to be patient.”

Slow start for Erica Enders in Pomona

After a slow start for Erica Enders in Pomona, the two-time Pro Stock World Champion didn’t love her 2016 Valentine’s Day so much.  Enders lost in the first round of the 56th Annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season opener.   The champ shook the tires at the hit and almost immediately had to abort the run in her Elite Motorsports/Mopar Dodge Dart.

We’ve got to keep a positive attitude and keep the mindset that this is only a beginning for us,” Enders said. “We just finished putting our motors together on Wednesday in Phoenix. We can only go up from here, and I know that with all my heart. It is a very tough pill to swallow. I hate losing, I hate losing first round. If there’s any consolation to it, at least it was to my teammate.”

We’ve got to do some work with these race cars,” Enders said. “That run marks run No. 15 under our belts, and that’s nothing, considering I had over 300 runs on my other car. We’ll learn it, we’ll get it, and we’ll be back to the top — you bet your butt.”

The track was way different today than it was the whole weekend,” Enders said. “We run behind the fuel cars, and they did zero track prep, which is pretty detrimental to our class. Of course, being first out doesn’t help, but that was our own fault.  All things considered, coming here we figured we’d be a middle-of-the-pack car, and that’s exactly what we were. We’re going to go home and go to work on this stuff. We’ve got a couple weeks until Phoenix, and in between Phoenix and Gainesville there’s another couple of weeks. I fully expect by the Gatornationals to be a lot more competitive. We’ll keep moving in the right direction.”

Two-time defending NHRA Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders is fresh off a successful first test session with her new EFI-equipped Elite Motorsports Mopar Dodge Dart on Saturday at North Star Dragway.

I was really impressed,” Enders said. “It was a pretty awesome experience. I feel like my expectations were a little tainted by what other people had reported about EFI and I didn’t know what to expect, but then to experience it first-hand with my guys, I’m very optimistic. Things went well, and I’m excited about the season.   We accomplished a lot in one day, and we did that because of the preparation and hard work of all my Elite guys.”

 The drivability is absolutely different,” Enders said. “It’s definitely challenging, but change always is. I couldn’t have asked for a better first experience with it. We had a great track to test on, and with a brand-new race car and all the new EFI stuff, we went out and went right down the racetrack — no blips, no hiccups, nothing. It was great.”

I’ve never raced with an open windshield like that,” Enders said. “I’ve always had a hood scoop or a blower or something, so it was definitely different to have a wide-open view. That was a big change, but I ignored that aspect of it because I was so focused on doing my best in the race car. That wasn’t even a thought.”

Elite Motorsports | Erica Enders Dodge Pro Stock 2016 Dart

Erica Enders’ new Dodge Pro Stock was built by RJ Race Cars in Galesburg, Ill., the famed shop led by Enders’ crew chiefs, Rick and Rickie Jones.  They previously crafted her championship-winning cars from 2014 and 2015.

“Rick and Rickie take a lot of pride in the cars they produce,” Enders said. “They both have said these two cars are the best two pieces that have ever come out of their shop. That’s pretty cool.”

What do you think of the new, sleek, hoodscoop-less Pro Stock design?

Leave us a comment below!

NHRA Pro Stock driver, Erica Enders continues to rack up accolades for her historical “R-EE-peat” championship  season.   Most recently, Autoweek names Erica Enders as its inaugural Autoweek Driver Award recipient.

Enders earned her second consecutive Pro Stock championship with a dominant performance in the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, winning nine races, breaking Angelle Sampey’s single-season win record for females, passed legend Shirley Muldowney for second place in career wins by a woman as her total increased to 21 career victories, and most recently, was voted the Horsepower & Heels Female Racer of the Year and Female Motorsport Professional of the Year.

Enders also set an all-time NHRA record by winning three consecutive final rounds on holeshots (in Brainerd, Minn.; Indianapolis; and Charlotte), proving deadly on the tree all season long, leading to her being able to clinch the championship in Las Vegas with one race remaining on the schedule. She became the first driver in Pro Stock to win back-to-back titles since the great Jeg Coughlin Jr. accomplished that feat in 2007-08.

It’s a huge honor to be named as the winner of the Autoweek Driver Award, especially considering it covers all of motorsports,” Enders said. “Sometimes drag racing is overlooked, so it’s pretty neat for us. Thanks to (team owner) Richard Freeman, (crew chiefs) Rick and Rickie Jones and Mark Ingersoll, and all my Elite Motorsports guys. I’ve got the best, smartest, most loyal guys in the business, and they make this whole deal possible. I’m a blessed girl to be their driver, and we’ll continue to live this dream.”

The Autoweek Awards were launched to “recognize individuals or companies who, over the course of the last year, have made substantial contributions to the continued relevance and advancement of car culture.”

The magazine said of Enders, “No other driver has dominated their sport to the degree that Enders has over the course of the last two years.”