Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders says ‘Don’t bet against us’

CONCORD, NC — Erica Enders’ two Pro Stock championships both came in the 10-year-old playoff era so she has intimate knowledge of how the six-race Countdown to the Championship works. With the first playoff race taking place this weekend at zMax Dragway, Enders and her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports crew know it’s time to put up or shut up.

“The regular season is all about securing a spot in the top 10 so you’ve got a ticket to the playoffs,” Enders said. “We’ve done that part. Now it’s time to get to work and see what we can do about winning another championship. We’re only a year removed from our last title but it seems like forever and we’d love to get it back.

“I’ve said time and again, in the glory times and when we’ve been down, that Elite Motorsports is the best team in professional drag racing and I tell people, ‘Don’t bet against us,’ because I know what this group is capable of doing. We’ve won this year, we’ve had three runner-up finishes, we’ve had the quickest and fastest car in plenty of sessions, now we just need to put it all together and keep it moving through the Countdown.”

Enders enters this year’s playoffs in sixth place, placing her 60 points or three rounds of elimination racing behind leader Bo Butner. Her most recent final-round appearance came just three races ago in Seattle.

“We ran well in Seattle but we’ve done so much work since then the car is totally different,” Enders said. “I personally made 40 passes in my car and Jeg (Coughlin Jr., teammate’s) car before Indy and after Indy we went and tested for three more days. We invited some friends along on this most recent test to give us a fresh perspective on how the cars were set up and what we have been doing with the engines and the changes they suggested look really promising.

“This team doesn’t have ego issues. They are happy to bring in people to help us when we’re struggling with something. That’s why Richard Freeman (team owner) has been so successful; he knows winning championships takes extreme effort. He knows there is nothing simple or routine in this sport.”

Charlotte has been good to Enders in the past. She raced to runner-up results in 2012 and 2013 and was top qualifier at the facility in 2014.

“If you can put together a string first race in the Countdown it really makes a difference moving forward,” Enders said. “We’re going to give it all we have and see what happens. There will certainly be no lack of effort put in for the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.”

Pro Stock qualifying sessions are scheduled for 2:45 and 5:15 p.m., Friday, and 12:45 and 3:15 p.m., Saturday. Eliminations begin at 1 p.m., Sunday. FOX Sports 1 will carry the first day of qualifying action live from 6-7 p.m., Friday. Live eliminations will air on FOX Sports 1 from 2:30-5:30 p.m., Sunday. (All times are local and subject to change.)