MORRISON — Red nails on Erica Enders’ left hand rest on the outside left of the steering wheel as her right hand grips the shifter. They’re painted to match her dragster and her team. She has been married for five years but never wears her wedding ring when racing, for fear if her car were to catch fire the metal might heat up and burn her skin. The only jewelry she wears is a tiny Texas-shaped necklace to keep her hometown, Cypress, close to her heart.
She picks a point at the end of the track, dials in on it, and puts her foot on the gas as the light turns to green. She must shift four times in the six seconds it takes her to get to the finish line.
But back in her trailer at Bandimere Speedway before her qualifying race on Friday night, the 32-year old Enders slouched down into the brown leather bench when asked about the struggles her team has faced this season.
After winning back-to-back NHRA Pro Stock World Championships in the past two years, Enders, who started racing when she was 8, has only five round-wins this year. A year ago, she won nine races and 58 rounds.
“To be able to come in with a new team, a new group of guys that I hadn’t worked with collectively before (2014), and dominate the way that we did, and then with all of the rule changes NHRA implemented this year, we knew it would be a challenge,” Enders said. “I don’t think we expected to be this far behind at this point in the season, (out of the top 10) but I would rather go to the bottom with this group than the top with anybody else.”
The rule changes and a switch to Mopar has led to a season of adjustment as her Mopar Dodge team worked to develop a new Dodge Dart and new fuel-injected engines.
In July 2015, the NHRA announced a list of changes it would be making this year to “increase spectator appeal and reduce and control costs for race teams.” Whereas Pro Stock cars used to have carburetors, now they have electronically controlled throttle body fuel injection systems.
Enders can’t fully explain the effect of the changes while sitting in her trailer, so she walks down the stairs and out to her car, which she clarifies is a girl, and peels off the gray cover.
Patting the hood, Enders explains the inner workings of her car that led to her having “ultimate control with the carburetor. Now, it’s “inconsistent and sporadic.”
Enders made it clear she cares deeply for her crew, referring to them as brothers. But she also knows when she’s at the starting line, itap on her.
“I’m a perfectionist and I take a lot of pride in my driving,” she said.
And, on top of perfectionism, Enders understands that she is under a harsher microscope than her male counterparts.
“I can make the same mistake as my teammate who is also a multiple time world champion, but because I’m a female, itap looked at completely different,” Enders said. “I could do the same thing great in the car, but itap because I had a great team or had a fast race car.”
That pressure helps drive her to iron out the glitches and get back to the winner’s circle. A little more testing and a little more funding money would help, but with the crew she has, Enders is confident she can win big again.
After two rounds Saturday, Enders was second — her best qualifying effort of the season. Her previous best qualifying slot this season was fifth.
After her run, she walked out from underneath the red awning of her trailer, grabbing a Sharpie on the way out, and signed autographs for the small crowd gathered outside. She makes sure to sign a little girl’s poster first.
