Erica Enders has finally gotten the Gator off her back — pun intended.
For the first time in her 20-year Pro Stock career, the six-time world champion collected a Gatornationals trophy to open the NHRA season March 10 at Florida’s Gainesville Raceway.
It was her 49th career win.
To call it a relief, especially after the way last year began, would be an understatement.
“Last year, we opened the Gatornationals and my car didn’t start first round,” Enders said. “When it didn’t fire, that started the downward spiral of the start of the 2023 season.”
The story has been told many times. The heartbreak at the Gatornationals led to five more winless weeks and a dip to 14th in points by the beginning of the summer stretch. But the frustrating struggles inevitably turned into success by the end of the year, and Enders rallied to secure her sixth Pro Stock title at the World Finals in Pomona, Calif.
That led to her new motto: “It’s now how you start. It’s how you finish. Pretty cliché, right?”
Keep in mind, most clichés are based in truth and last year proved that Enders and her Elite Motorsports team can win a championship under just about any set of circumstances.
Nonetheless, Enders would admittedly much rather start her title defense off on the right foot, as she did in the winner’s circle at the Gatornationals.
“I don’t believe in, ‘You don’t want to start off too hot, because then you’ll fall off and won’t be worth a crap in the Countdown (to the Championship).’ I don’t believe in any of that stuff,” Enders said. “It’s just important how you finish.”
Aside from righting last year’s wrongs, Enders also had a new car to adjust to in Florida.
She somewhat-willingly traded her old car, which she drove for five-and-a-half years, for a new chassis. To prepare for the swap, Elite Motorsports brought on five-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. to shake down the car late last season.
While she agrees it’s the right call for the team, Enders is typically not an advocate for change.
“I was worried about it, but the race car was awesome,” Enders said, referring to the Rick Jones-built chassis. “Every new car that I get in from him (Jones) is state-of-the-art and awesome. I’m the only variable with that, because it’s all up here (points to head).”
She didn’t test at all over the offseason until Elite Motorsports traveled to Bradenton Motorsports Park for the PRO Superstar Shootout on Feb. 8-10. The car proved itself quickly against a stout field of competitors, as Enders wheeled it to the win and collected the $125,000 winner’s check in the specialty drag race.
Still, that doesn’t mean Enders is as acquainted with the car as much as she would like to be.
“Each car has its own personality. It’s like a person. You have to learn its tendencies and its personality and you have to run each car different,” Enders explained. “It definitely feels different, there’s a lot of little things that are different about it.”
The last thing that needs fixing is her seat, which needs to be poured. But that’s a process she can easily complete to help increase her comfortability with the new setup.
“I could be complaining about much worse things than a new car,” Enders said, chuckling.
The next Pro Stock race is March 21-24 at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona (Calif.) Dragstrip. Enders is a past winner at the event (2022).