Erica Enders determined to bounce back after second-round exit in Sonoma

SONOMA, CA – Erica Enders and her Elite Motorsports team are more determined than ever after a second-round exit in the NHRA Sonoma Nationals on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

Her Elite team was making its first appearance at Sonoma Raceway, and Enders was racing here for the first time since 2012. Still, she qualified No. 9 and advanced to the second round before bowing out to No. 1 qualifier and eventual race winner Chris McGaha.

“We’ve got nothing to be ashamed of,” Enders said. “We’re going to load up and go to the next race. My guys are the most determined bunch I’ve ever met. Right now our day is over, but where are all three of my crew chiefs (Rick and Rickie Jones and Mark Ingersoll) and my team owner (Richard Freeman)? They’re in the lounge, going over notes and trying to figure out how to get better.

“You can bet your bottom dollar that we’ll be back, and we’re just going to use this to fuel our fire.”

Enders and her team have handled adversity well in the past. Earlier this year, after losing in the first round in Gainesville, Fla., and in the second in Charlotte, Enders won the K&N Horsepower Challenge and the national event in Las Vegas and then won in Houston.

And after losing in the first round in Englishtown, N.J., she raced to the semifinals in Epping, N.H., before winning in Bristol, Tenn. Enders also lost in the first round in Norwalk, Ohio, before going to two consecutive semifinals in Chicago and Denver.

In Sonoma, her 100th consecutive race, Enders faced No. 8 qualifier Shane Gray in the first round, and she left first with a .017-second reaction time and held off Gray with a pass of 6.531 seconds at 211.93 mph. Gray’s run was slightly better, 6.530 at 212.39 mph, but Enders won on a holeshot.

“There have been plenty of days when my team has carried me,” Enders said. “I wish I could’ve carried them further this weekend. My crew chief always tells me, ‘If you can be .020 all day on Sunday, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to go to the winner’s circle with the people that we have and the equipment that we have.’ Today just wasn’t our day.”

Enders also left first on McGaha, .020 to .029, but McGaha made a pass of 6.514 seconds at 212.13 mph to run down Enders’ 6.529 at 211.93 mph.