ENDERS EARNS PRO STOCK VICTORY FOR ELITE MOTORSPORTS AT MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS
Five-Time World Champion Nabs 45th Pro Stock Career Win In Topeka
TOPEKA, KS (August 13, 2023) - Elite Motorsports Pro Stock star Erica Enders landed her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG Power Equipment Camaro in the winners circle today, earning the final Wally at Heartland Motorsports Park. Enders defeated Greg Anderson in the final round at the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.
The five-time and current NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Stock world champion earned her second win of the season after a lengthy rain delay at Heartland Motorsports Park.
“This is twenty years strong,” said Enders, just moments after receiving her trophy at the top end. “My mom, my dad and my sister are always in my corner making me mentally tough. They believe in me when I don’t believe in myself. But, let me tell you something about my team. When the rest of Elite Motorsports was eliminated today, they were all over helping on my car. Everybody rallied.”
All nine of the powerful Elite Motorsports Pro Stock machines made the field thanks to an impressive showing during qualifying.
In the first round of NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Stock eliminations, Bo Butner faced Camrie Caruso in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Camaro. Despite a slight starting line advantage, Butner ceded the round win to Caruso. Next up, Kyle Koretsky red-lit against Elite Motorsports driver Troy Coughlin Jr. in his JEGS.com / White Castle Camaro. Additional Round One victories for the Elite Motorsports team included Aaron Stanfield defeating his teammate Cristian Cuadra, thanks to a stellar reaction time of .018 seconds, and Enders holding on to her starting line advantage to get the round win over Chris McGaha. Coughlin would be the only Pro Stock driver to win from the right lane in the first round. Elite drivers Jerry Tucker, David Cuadra, Fernando Cuadra Jr. and Fernando Cuadra Sr. all experienced uncharacteristically early exits in the first round of eliminations.
Elite Motorsports teammates Enders and Stanfield faced each other in the quarterfinals. With a difference of only one-thousandth of a second in reaction times, Enders launched her powerful machine off the starting line first and held that lead to the stripe to defeat Stanfield. In doing so, she qualified to participate in the next Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenge. Greg Anderson defeated Coughlin in the same round of competition.
In the semifinals, Enders faced current points leader Dallas Glenn. With a stunning .009 second reaction time, Enders won on a holeshot as her pass of 6.637-seconds at 206.54 mph beat Glenn’s 6.629 at 204.94.
In the final round of the Menards NHRA Nationals, Enders and Anderson lined up against one another in competition, for the fiftieth time in their Pro Stock careers. In a repeat of the final round at this same event in 2015, Enders defeated Anderson to pick up the 45th Pro Stock victory of her illustrious career.
In the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Patterson-Elite racer Ryan Montford raced to a runner-up finish in Super Stock.
The next stop for the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will be the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn., August 17-20.
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Menards NHRA Nationals Sunday Photo Gallery
Photo's: NHRA
Content: Jessica Hatcher | Imagination 9