Current Elite Motorsports Camaro reminds Erica Enders of her two championship cars

EPPING, NH — Erica Enders matched her provisional No. 1 qualifying effort from Friday night in Saturday’s first session at New England Dragway, running an identical 6.513-second elapsed time at a slight faster 213.16 mph to end up second in the elimination field of the fifth annual NHRA New England Nationals.

The impressive run, followed by a 6.518 at 212.69 mph in the final session, proves Enders’ Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro is a very consistent racecar. In fact, she says the reliability of her Rick Jones-built chassis reminds her a lot of the two cars she and her Elite crew used to win 15 nationals events and back-to-back Pro Stock world titles in 2014 and 2015.

“We’ve definitely got a consistent racecar on our hands,” Enders said. “Being consistent, and obviously very quick, is exactly how we won our two championships, so we are absolutely buzzing over here right now.

“Three runs all in the 6.51-second range says a lot about the horsepower Nick Ferri and Jake Hairston have been making back at the shop, and I give a bunch of credit to the guys for putting it all together this weekend. We are having fun and it feels great to know we are running at the top of the charts again.”

With only 14 cars in attendance this weekend, the modified elimination ladder has Enders lining up against Australian racer Shane Tucker, a longtime friend. Tucker maxed out with a 6.712 at 202.52, which placed him 13th on the race day grid. The two have not raced one another since 2014.

“Looking at the data briefly after the last run and comparing it to the two .513s we ran, Rick (Jones, crew chief) thinks there is more in it so we may be able to step it up tomorrow,” Enders said. “It’s supposed to be slightly warmer than today, more like what we had Friday, so we’ll prepare for what we expect to see and adjust from there.

“This program has been moving in the right direction all season and it hasn’t felt this good in a while so we’re all extremely happy. Now it’s time to go out there and execute. We were in the final two races ago (in Atlanta) and Jeg (Coughlin, teammate) was in the final at the last race in Topeka and also in Houston, so we’re due for a breakthrough win any time now.”

Coughlin and fellow Elite Motorsports driver Vincent Nobile are slated to race one another in Round 1, assuring at least one Elite car will advance to the quarterfinals. Should Enders and either Coughlin or Nobile win their first two elimination races, there could be an all-Elite semifinal battle for a spot in the finals.

Pro Stock eliminations start at noon, Sunday. FOX Sports 1 will air elimination action beginning at 4:30 p.m., Sunday. (Times are local and subject to change).