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?

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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.”

She’s had storybook season in 2015, and it seems her fairy tale just continues to re-write itself to an even happier ending.  

Enders clinches the 2015 Championship

A perfect victory to extend Vegas streak

With the championship sealed up, Enders knew her day was far from over, as she set out to defend her winning streak at the Vegas facility.    She defeated Skillman in the semifinals when he left .004-second too soon, setting up a final-round match with Butner.     To the disbelief of all who watched, she proceeded to cut a perfect 0.000 reaction enroute to her 6.595 second at 208.97 mph victory over Butner, with a 6.610 second at 209.33 mph effort.

“I knew it was going to be a tough race against a drive like Bo, who I know is hungry for his first win,” Enders said. “To be able to cap the second championship off with another win in Vegas is just crazy.   It’s just an incredible day,  I’m kind of speechless. Vegas has always been really good to me, and it’s nice to keep our streak going with now 22 consecutive round-wins. It’s mind-boggling.”

“Finally I feel like I’m home with this group of guys,” Enders said. “I couldn’t have dreamed up a better crew. We truly get along, we have such great chemistry, and most importantly we have fun together. That’s why we’re so successful on the racetrack. Horsepower doesn’t hurt, but we don’t have the biggest budget. We get it done because of the people. It’s been a long road, but I’m glad to be where I’m at. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

Watch video as Erica Enders clinches the 2015 Pro Stock Championship

Erica Enders reset both ends of the track record in the second qualifying session of the NHRA Toyota Nationals on Friday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, earning her the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot.   Enders  has the opportunity to clinch the championship in Pro Stock if she can leave Las Vegas with a 151-point lead.  She began the race with a  154 point lead, padding that by three based on qualifying points from the first two sessions.

“I’m glad we were able to accomplish it,” Enders said. “Having said that, we’ve got two more important runs tomorrow. We need to scoop up all the qualifying bonus points we possibly can and try to stay on the pole. We need to go into Sunday with our heads down and get to work. We’ve got a lot to accomplish still, and I want to win the race. I want to make it four in a row. I couldn’t be more proud to be their driver; they’re an awesome group of men.”

“I think we have 18 consecutive round-wins here, and the goal is to get to 22,” Enders said. “Having said that, we go back to taking things one at a time. My guys performed really well here, and my crew chiefs seem to have a good handle on this track and the dry air.   Our race car is working. We stumbled onto some stuff in Dallas that we had been working really hard to figure out. As most people watched, they could see our performance change a little bit on Sunday. We certainly translated that to here. I’m excited and cautiously optimistic to be in the position we’re in.”

“We made a good run in the first session,” Enders said. “The weather (for Q2) was actually not as good as it was for the first session, so we really just stepped on it. I could not be more proud of my team. Our Elite Performance horsepower is really showing through right when we need it most. Pair that with our excellent teamwork, and my driving has been pretty decent lately. The sky is the limit for us.

NHRA defending Pro Stock champion Erica Enders added another national event victory to her resume this weekend during the 8th Annual NHRA Carolina Nationals, her first win at the Charlotte, NC area zMax Dragway facility.    The win captured several historical milestones for the current points leader, and keeps her a front-runner for the Countdown to the Championship.

Enders began the weekend with consistent qualifying efforts, landing the No. 3 spot for Sunday’s eliminations with a best pass of 6.536 seconds at 211.83 mph.   She would take on V. Gaines in the opening round, taking the early lead off the starting line and never looking back, with a 6.565 second pass at 211.10 mph to defeat Gaines 6.645 at 209.33 mph.

In round 2, Enders would dispatch Chris McGaha with the fastest pass of the round – a 6.588 at 210.11 mph, taking the advantage at the tree yet again.  Though McGaha would run the second-fastest time of the round- a 6.620 at 210.18 mph,  it wasn’t enough to catch Enders.   She would earn lane choice into round 3.  However, something went amiss on the Elite Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro during the run, and the team returned to the pits, thrashing to prepare for their semifinal match-up with veteran racer Allen Johnson.

“In the second round we had an issue with our clutch and were able to barely make it up for the semifinals against (Allen Johnson),” Enders said.

The team got her to the line for the semifinals, and Erica’s uncharacteristic 0.031 second reaction time left her chasing Johnson, who posted a 0.010 second reaction.    She chased him down to the finish line, running a 6.586 second at 210.31 mph pass to his losing 6.611 at 209.59 mph, passing him by just 18 inches at the stripe.    The margin of victory was 0.0048 seconds, but it was just enough to land Enders in her third consecutive final, where she would face Vincent Nobile.

It’s just a confidence booster in getting in the race car up there when my crew chief (Rick Jones) said, ‘Hey, look up in the right corner of your windshield. What does that say? It says No. 1. There is a reason for that.’  Just having them stand behind me even when I might not be there mentally that day it pumps me up. They are there for me. My guys are who make me a better driver.”

Enders would take the hole-shot win against Nobile in the final, running a slower 6.581 second, 210.97 mph  to his losing 6.575 sec at 211.13 mph performance.

That is pretty neat,” Enders said of winning in Charlotte. “Back when I drove for Cagnazzi (Racing), this was one of the facilities that they had never won at. It was obviously a goal of ours. Coming in this weekend, I had runner-upped three or four different times here, a couple at the Four-Wide Nationals and one at the regular race. This was actually the place where the win lights malfunctioned and we thought we got our first win against Greg Anderson, but then they were like, ‘Sike, you don’t get it,’ and took the trophy over to him.”

History for Enders in Charlotte

Not only did she land her first win at the zMax Dragway facility, but she crossed off quite a few more milestones in the process.   The win marked the third straight victory for Enders, the second hole-shot victory in a row, and ties marks set by Sampey (2002) and Muldowney (1977) for the most consecutive wins by a female racer.    In addition, her class-leading seventh victory of the season ties Sampey’s 2001 season effort for the most female racer wins in one season.   It also marked her 19th-career professional win in Pro Stock, a feat by which she passes Shirley Muldowney on the all-time female racer win list for the No. 2 position.  She trails only Angelle Sampey (41 wins) for the winning-est female racer in drag racing history.

It’s a true blessing, and to be able to pass Shirley — it was crazy in Indy to tie her. Angelle is a friend of mine, lives about 20 minutes from my house (in New Orleans). She is by far the winning-est female in NHRA drag racing, so it’s definitely cool to put my name alongside of theirs, a true honor.”

Enders, who entered the countdown as the No. 1 seed, retains the No. 1 position and increases her lead in the Countdown to the Championship by 83 points going into race No. 2.

Yeah, it’s pretty incredible,” Enders said. “My PR guy was telling me some stats on the way down the hallway and that is pretty surreal. I feel like I’m in a dream. I just don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such a great group of guys and to work for such an awesome team owner. We have fun together and that is what makes it so cool. We are able to be successful and have fun. Nobody said that you had to be miserable while you are doing it.”

The Elite Motorsports team packs up and heads to the next stop on the Countdown tour, the 4th Annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals held at Gateway Motorsports Park outside of St. Louis, MO, Sept. 25-27.

A series of mechanical glitches threw Elite Motorsports driver Erica Enders off her game in the second round of the 28th Annual NHRA Northwest Nationals on Sunday at Pacific Raceways.

“I fired the car and had no oil pressure and no vacuum, so I radioed my guys and told them,” Enders said. “My crew chief just waved me in the water to start the burnout. I went to start my burnout, and then they were waving their arms to stop, so I aborted the burnout.   They told me to shut it off, and they pulled my front-end clip off. Turns out the oil sump belt had come off, so there was no oil turning to the motor. They put that on, put the front end back on, and I fired it up. I had to reset all my switches, and the starter said I could do a short burnout. As I was pulling up, they were like, ‘No, back up.’ I backed up through the water and started my whole procedure over again. It was extremely rushed, and I was unable to do a burnout across the starting line, which means we couldn’t put any rubber down or burn through the resin.”

 Not laying that critical rubber down through the starting line is detrimental to a recalcitrant Pro Stock car, though Enders was able to post a decent pass of 6.530 seconds at 211.89 mph. Coughlin, who shut the engine off in his Camaro while he waited for his teammate, won with a run of 6.532 seconds at 211.96, earning the victory on a holeshot.   Coughlin would move on to runner-up in the finals of the race.

We did what we could with what we had,” Enders said. “I pulled in and pre-staged, but to be quite honest, I didn’t rise to the occasion today. I’m pretty disappointed in myself as a driver. Regardless of the distractions up there, I’m a world champion for a reason, and I didn’t show it today. It makes me mad, but at the same time, there were eight things that were horribly wrong all at one time, and it was a distraction. This is a game that’s won and lost by thousandths of a second.”

“The fortunate thing is my teammate Jeg Coughlin waited for me,” Enders said. “He didn’t have to, but we’re a team back here, and we’re a team up there. He shut his car off, and he wasn’t going to pre-stage without me. That speaks a lot about his character and the class he brings to this operation.  Nobody else would have waited, and one of the red cars was going to the semifinals.”