Reigning Pro Stock champ Erica Enders catches wrong kind of break in Sonoma

SONOMA, CA — Two-time and reigning Pro Stock champion Erica Enders has been hoping the breaks start turning her way in this transitional drag racing season, but when her engine broke in the water box just seconds before her opening-round pass, even she couldn’t believe her misfortune.

“It’s almost like ‘what else could go wrong,’ ” said Enders, the most prolific female Pro Stock racer of all time. “It’s just a tough, tough way to end the day … before it even started.

“I fired up and rolled through the water box, and as I went to get the rpm up for the burnout, I heard a weird noise in the engine. I radioed the guys and they had me hold there for a minute at idle to see if it would clear itself up, but it was pretty obvious we had a problem. I had no choice; I had to shut it off.”

As disappointing as the moment was for Enders, the 21-time national event winner didn’t lose any ground in her quest to make the Countdown to the Championship field as her nearest rival in the points, good friend Alex Laughlin, also lost in the first round.

“We have three more races to catch Alex and get past him to make the playoff field,” Enders said. “It’s really the biggest goal we have right now, for our fans and sponsors to see us make it in.

“The guys are already tearing the Elite/Mopar Dodge Dart apart to see exactly what happened, and I know they’ll have us ready to go next weekend in Seattle.”

Enders trails Laughlin by nine points, or less than half a round of elimination action.

The 29th annual ProtectTheHarvest.com NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Lucas Oil begins Friday, Aug. 5, at Pacific Raceways near Seattle.