Shimmy, shimmy (tire) shake has Erica Enders dancing to an early exit from Topeka

TOPEKA, KS — Two-time world champion Erica Enders was hoping for more from the 29th annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties, but her usually reliable Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro encountered some severe tire shake just off the launch pad in her opening-round race against teammate Vincent Nobile, resulting in a loss.

After qualifying 7-8 on the elimination ladder, Enders and Nobile knew they would likely have a very close race. As expected, the two experts reacted to the starting lights within one-thousandth of a second of one another. But soon after that, Enders car began to shake its giant rear slicks, reducing the 2014 and 2015 Pro Stock champion to a spectator as Nobile danced away for an easy win.

The final numbers had Nobile cruising to a 6.583 at 210.44 mph to Enders’ forfeiting 9.145 at 109.08 mph.

“We weren’t expecting it to do that,” Enders said. “The guys spent a lot of time overnight and this morning to get us ready to race. It’s disappointing when things don’t go the way you plan. At least Vincent was able to advance so we keep another Elite car in the mix along with Jeg (Coughlin Jr., teammate) on the other side of the ladder.

“This class goes in cycles. The tide is bound to turn in our favor very soon. We have great horsepower, the best people in the sport, lots of drive and determination, and excellent work ethic. We are so eager to get this car back to winning rounds and visiting the winner’s circle with regularity.”

Enders’ next chance at victory comes June 2-4 with the fifth annual NHRA New England Nationals in Epping. N.H.

“It’ll be nice to get back to the shop in Oklahoma and continue working on things to make us better,” Enders said. “We brought out a new motor this weekend and we need to spend a little more time with it to make it work properly with this Rick Jones chassis. The power it showed on the dyno got everyone excited and hopefully we’ll be able to show that off in Epping.”