Austin Prock: 'I felt pretty confident going that we were going to have the car to beat'
Paul Lee: 'It’s going to be great just to see our friends and the fans'
Jack Beckman: 'I don’t know if anyone wants to get back more than me'
Tim Wilkerson: 'I don’t think they’re ready for my attitude. It’s gonna be fun'
Kenny Delco: 'We were fast, we qualified fourth at Pomona and Phoenix'
Steve Torrence: 'You’ve got to come out and swing for every one of ’em'
Cristian Cuadra: 'I think I’m doing well, but I have a lot of room to improve'
Tommy Johnson Jr.: 'I’ve not wanted to win a championship more than this year'
Brittany Force: 'We’re ready for all this to be over so we get back to what we love'
Robert Hight: 'I can’t wait to get back and try to defend our championship'
Alex Laughlin: 'All we have to do is shove the car back in the trailer, and we are ready to go racing'
Shawn Langdon: 'I’m trying to stay as fresh as I can so we can be ready to go'
Chris McGaha: 'We’ve come up with some new ideas and we’ve beaten on some things'
J.R. Todd: 'I have all the confidence that we will be in contention when it counts'
Clay Millican: 'I can’t wait to stomp on that loud pedal ... it’s been way too long'
Bob Tasca III: 'Trust me, this Motorcraft car is going to have its day in the sun'
Antron Brown: 'I’ve been doing everything I can; I’m gonna come back hungry and ready'
Jason Line: 'It doesn’t matter what track we start with, the cars will all be ready to go when we get the call'
Fernando Cuadra Jr: 'We’re applying many of the things we learned from the first two races'
John Force: 'I’ll be ready. I know the car. I could drive it with my eyes closed'
Rahn Tobler maps out plans and goals for the NAPA Auto Parts Funny Car team
Leah Pruett: 'This is not the time to test or play; it’s time to run with what we know'
Ron Capps: 'It’s going to feel crazy the first time any of us steps on the gas for the first time'
Doug Kalitta: 'We’re all just really hungry and ready to make it happen'
Bo Butner: 'I feel like when we all come back racing we’ll be stronger than ever!'
Jeg Coughlin Jr: 'It’s time to go. Every round will be as important as the last'
Matt Hartford: 'We have a car that can run for the championship—bar none'
Alexis DeJoria: 'I just hope that everybody makes it back to the track safely'
Justin Ashley: 'Having a break like this really puts things in perspective'
Erica Enders: 'Our great start proves the organization’s hard work is paying off'
Erica Enders: 'Our great start proves the organization’s hard work is paying off'
Erica Enders | Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
Current points position: 1st | Best season e.t. to date: 6.552
Early-season report card:
Early-season report card: Erica Enders and Elite Motorsports came out swinging at the beginning of the season. Jeg Coughlin Jr. had a dominating performance in Pomona and Enders qualified third. On Sunday morning of the Winternationals, they were on opposite sides of the ladder with a potential to meet in the finals. When Enders’ car shook in the semis against Jason Line, that left her teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr to dispatch the last KB Racing car in the final.
In Phoenix, Enders and Coughlin seemingly swapped roles from Pomona. Enders moved up one qualifying spot with her 6.554-second run to be No. 2 behind Coughlin. On Sunday, it was her turn to defeat Line in the semi’s with her 6.555 to Line’s 6.588, before taking on and besting Bo Butner for the Wally.
Looking back: “So we had a really great start to the year for our whole organization, which proves that our hard work is paying off. Having said that, I believe that in Phoenix the KB Racing team struggled a little bit. When they came to Orlando (for the World Doorslammer Nationals), their struggles were behind them. So, it’s just going to be a battle; it’s always a battle, between Elite and KB.”
Looking ahead: “It’s funny, when you’re on the road the whole time and you’re like, ‘Man, what I wouldn’t give for a couple weeks off.’ And now we’re like – let’s go. We have a simulator in the shop. I sit in my race car. But nothing – nothing – compares to on-track practice. We plan to head to Tulsa in the next couple of weeks to do some testing with what we’ve found in the engine shop and just get back in the seat.”
Shop talk: “The cars have been ready to go for weeks now because they were in Gainesville and ready to race. We came back to the shop, took everything apart, and inventoried the trailers. My Melling Performance team got a new truck and trailer – it’s an awesome rig – so we’ve been switching all of that stuff over. Hard work has been going on at Elite Performance’s engine shop, trying to develop our intake manifolds and find more horsepower with our engine programs. That has not stopped. We all know [Elite Motorsports owner] Richard Freeman enough to know that not even COVID-19 was going to get in the way of progress from his small town in Oklahoma.”
The final word: “This is the longest period of time any driver has been out of the seat – I know myself, for sure. This is longer than any off-season. Usually we’re off in December, but by January we are in Florida testing for the whole month before we head out West to test in Phoenix before Pomona. The longest we’re out of the seat is four, maybe six weeks. This has been an incredibly lengthy time to be out of the cockpit. At least we are all in the same boat. We’re all going to have to knock the rust off. But I’m ready for it.”