Houston native sets mark for most championships by a female driver
LAS VEGAS (Nov. 2, 2020) – First female with four championships has a nice ring, but it wasn’t top of mind for Erica Enders entering what appeared to be a normal National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
But because of COVID-19, nothing has been normal. Two races were in the books when racing was halted until July because of the novel coronavirus. Now, nearly nine months and only 10 Pro Stock races later, Enders can wrap her mind around earning the distinction.
The Houston native, driving the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS, added to her 2019, 2015 and 2014 Pro Stock championships in the Dodge NHRA Finals presented by Pennzoil at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Enders overtook Shirley Muldowney, who won Top Fuel titles in 1977, ’80 and ’82, and Angelle Sampey with Pro Stock Motorcycle championships in 2000, 2001 and ’02. A year earlier at Las Vegas, Enders earned the 150th professional category victory for a female driver. In 298 career races, she has 29 wins and 349 elimination-round victories.
“Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey mean a lot to me and I’m in good company with them,” said Enders, who picked up her first Pro Stock Wally in 2012 at Chicago.
Enders also joined Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), Don Prudhomme (Funny Car), Gary Scelzi (Top Fuel/Funny Car), Lee Shepherd (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) with four titles on the all-time list.
No one was as dominant in the 2014 and ’15 seasons as Enders, who won 15 races on the way to back-to-back Pro Stock world championships. In 24 races in 2015, Enders qualified No. 1 six times and started from the top half of the field 22 times in her Camaro. Two wins in the six-event Countdown to the Championship spurred Enders to the 2019 championship.
This season, Enders won the second race (Phoenix). Victories at Indianapolis and St. Louis followed the long layoff. She entered the finale with a 55-point lead over Jason Line and Jeg Coughlin Jr., who promptly lost their first-round matchups that handed Enders the championship. She raced to the final, defeating Kyle Koretsky’s Chevrolet Camaro for her series-high fourth victory.
“What an unbelievable day,” said Enders, who won for the sixth time at The Strip. “This place has been so good to me but I couldn’t do it without my team. I’ve not had the best year, but this is a lesson that you dig deep, you fight and pray with all the heart you have every single chase you get because you never know when it’s your last.
“Richard Freeman gave me this opportunity and I’m a blessed girl.”
