For second race in a row, points leader Bo Butner sends Erica Enders home

ST. LOUIS, MO — They may be good friends off the track, but two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders is getting tired of meeting up with current points leader Bo Butner on race day.

For the second playoff race in a row, Butner eliminated Enders in the quarterfinal round of competition. This time it was at the sixth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park.

“We encountered an all-too-familiar issue against Bo — tire shake,” Enders said. “I did my best to drive through it but got it a little out there on the edge. I guess the positive out of it is I still have a racecar that’s not waded up.”

The race against Butner started equally but Enders’ Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro soon got wildly out of shape, forcing her to push in the clutch and surrender the run. Butner stayed under power and crossed with a 6.561 at 211.66 mph, well ahead of Enders’ 8.408 at 117.33 mph.

Earlier in the day, Enders sharply dismissed Allen Johnson with a wire-to-wire job that started with a .016-second head-start and ended with Enders posting a quicker 6.566 at 211.46 mph to Johnson’s 6.571 at 210.24 mph.

“Everything we do, we do together,” Enders said. “It’s not me driving or the guys tuning, it’s just one big team. They like to joke and say we win as a team and lose as a driver but that’s just to be funny. It really is a group effort.

“I have the best guys. I have won races on holeshots and I’ve won races because I had the faster car. They give me the best they can every time and I can assure you that every time I get in the seat I try to give them the best I have. At the end of the day we are all human and these cars are just very temperamental. They have a mind of their own and unfortunately today mine was in a bad mood.

“My teammate Lump (Brian Self) went to the semifinals, which was cool. He took out some tough competitors and it was a fun day for him. This was his first semifinal in NHRA competition so that was cool. Now we will all get to work on these cars and try to get them ready for Dallas.”

Enders next heads back to her home state of Texas for the 32nd annual AAA Texas NHRA Fallnationals, Oct. 13-15, at the Texas Motorplex south of Dallas.