NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Erica Enders’ strong off-the-trailer 6.521 pass to lead Friday’s Pro Stock field was exactly the warning shot that the Elite team hoped it could fire to start the season, putting everyone on notice that that big, bad red Melling Camaro is ready to rumble.

Enders had to surrender her crown to Greg Anderson in a dramatic conclusion at the Auto Club NHRA Finals here in Pomona, the tough ending for a season of battles with a racecar that didn’t always live up to its vaunted reputation.

My guys have worked really hard over the winter,” said team owner Richard Freeman. “We got lost a little bit in ’20 and ‘21 and made some changes, but we’ve had some time to test and it’s proven to be pretty good.”

“We felt really strongly that we would open the season on a strong note,” said Enders. “We didn't go test with everyone in Phoenix; we did a private test rental in Bakersfield, Calif., for three days with all four of our house cars, and then the Cuadras, so we had a conglomerate of cars out there. All of our people -- I think we had 45 guys out there -- just really want to work on getting our setups right, but by no means do you know where you stand until you show up at a race where every other competitor is at. 

“To come out and do that well and have the car set up right and just go right to the top with Elite Performance and Elite Motorsports going 1-2 with myself here and Aaron Stanfield, it just feels good.”

While Enders acknowledged that Anderson’s KB team had superior power last year that influenced some of the outcomes – she was 3-4 against him last season – she’s also contending with a bunch of young guns with hair-trigger fingers for clutch feet and challenging her longtime reputation as the class’ premier starting-line leaver.

“I feel like as a driver I definitely left some on the table last year,” she admitted. “Greg had the superior performing car are all season long with quite a few No. 1 qualifiers and still barely won the championship. I had two crucial rounds in the Countdown. Had they gone the other way, we would have hoisted the trophy and secured a fifth world championship.

“[Reaction times] are always something that I work on. I had some surgery on my arm this offseason, so I didn't do a whole lot of testing but there was some stuff that I definitely wanted to work on -- clutch linkage, different clutch pedals, the way you position your body and your leg in the car. There are just so many things that go into it. And, as a human, I'm the biggest variable of all of it. But when it comes down to it, with the experience with the guys that I have standing behind me, and the calls that we make on the car, I definitely have my goal set high for being a better driver this year.”

Friday was just one run in what will be scores of runs where the lite team will throw down the gauntlet, but Enders is just concentrating on one run and one event at a time, and winning the Winternationals -– which she has never done –- would be a great start towards that fifth championship.

“We’d love to win this race,” he said. “It’s the 900th national event for Pro Stock, which is pretty significant, and having never won the Winternationals, that definitely be something to accomplish. It's on our bucket list, as well as the Gatornationals -– the only [events] that we haven't scored a Wally yet -- but to open up the season on the right foot would mean a lot to me.”