Winning In Sonoma, Team Getting On Track A High Priority For Enders
SONOMA, CA – Before Erica Enders takes to the track at Sonoma Raceway for this weekend’s NHRA Sonoma 
Nationals, the two-time Pro Stock world champion has an important task she hopes gets the entire Elite Motorsports team on track.
“I requested to have a team meeting and hopefully it’s going to be a momentum-building and morale-boosting type of meeting,” Enders said. “It’s just going to be about getting back to where we started and get back to what we know.
“What we do comes with a lot of pressure and stress, so this meeting can help us get in the cracks of what’s going on. It gives us a chance to hit the reset button and get our swagger back.”
Enders booked a conference room at the hotel the team is staying at for the Thursday meeting, which she hopes proves to be a pivotal point in the team’s 2019 NHRA season.
The Elite Motorsports team has one win this season – that being Jeg Coughlin’s victory in Phoenix – which is less than the team and Enders had hoped for through the first eight races of 2019.
The team has enjoyed plenty of bright moments this year, Enders included, but the goal remains more victories as the Pro Stock season kicks into high gear at the second race on the NHRA’s Western Swing.
Enders suffered a second-round loss last weekend in Denver in her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, but she remains confident her team can put it together in Sonoma.
For the 23-time event winner, Sonoma represents one of the few facilities where Enders hasn’t won, something she has tried to rectify for several seasons.
“I write down my goals every year and one of them is to win Sonoma. I’ve written that down for the past 10 years,” said Enders, who is currently eighth in Pro Stock points. “It’s one of my favorite places to race and I look forward to it every year, but we have never done well. Hopefully we can win it one of these years and it would be nice if we can get it done this year.”
The track is in the heart of wine country, and in addition to scheduling the pre-race meeting, Enders set up a post-race get together for the entire team in Sonoma.
Of course, the mood for that will be significantly better if Enders is in the winner’s circle come Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
“Hopefully we’ll be celebrating a win,” Enders said. “My priority is always racing and that’s just the way it is. Everyone on this team takes it very, very seriously and we all have to do a better job on Sundays, myself included. I’m confident we’ll do that and get on track.”
Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 3:15 and 6:15 p.m. on Friday and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday at 1:20 and 4:20 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Television coverage starts Friday night at 7 p.m. ET on Friday on FS1, and live finals action at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1 on Sunday before a live, two-hour broadcast on FOX starting at 5 p.m. There will also be a special hour-long Pro Stock episode at 10 p.m. ET on FS1 on Sunday.
