CONCORD, NC – Throughout her record-setting career, two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders always has done her best work in pressure-packed situations. When others wilt, she blossoms, which is one of the many reasons she’s excited about the first of six race days left in the 2017 season.

“The playoffs are definitely a different animal,” Enders said. “We’ve lived it, we’ve fought down to the last round of the season, we’ve felt the most pressure you can feel in this sport and we’ve come out on top. If that gives us an edge this year, we’ll take it.

“Of course, the guys that are going to make the biggest challenges are all veteran teams and most have them have won it all in the past. Either way, whoever wins this year’s championship will have earned it, no doubt.”

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CONCORD, NC – Erica Enders’ two Pro Stock championships both came in the 10-year-old playoff era so she has intimate knowledge of how the six-race Countdown to the Championship works. With the first playoff race taking place this weekend at zMax Dragway, Enders and her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports crew know it’s time to put up or shut up.

“The regular season is all about securing a spot in the top 10 so you’ve got a ticket to the playoffs,” Enders said. “We’ve done that part. Now it’s time to get to work and see what we can do about winning another championship. We’re only a year removed from our last title but it seems like forever and we’d love to get it back.

“I’ve said time and again, in the glory times and when we’ve been down, that Elite Motorsports is the best team in professional drag racing and I tell people, ‘Don’t bet against us,’ because I know what this group is capable of doing. We’ve won this year, we’ve had three runner-up finishes, we’ve had the quickest and fastest car in plenty of sessions, now we just need to put it all together and keep it moving through the Countdown.”

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INDIANAPOLIS – Two-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders has been to the winner’s circle at the sport’s biggest race – the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals – in 2015, but she could not return to the hallowed ground at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis this year as the fan-favorite racer bowed out in the opening stanza of eliminations.

Enders, a Houston native and the most acclaimed female racer in the history of Pro Stock, qualified her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro in the No. 11 position (6.604 seconds, 209.10 mph). In round one, Enders’ bright red racer had an untimely performance lapse and she was defeated by Chris McGaha, 6.703, 206.99 to 6.660, 206.42.

“We slowed way up,” Enders said. “Until we sort out our issue, we are on a hope and a prayer every time. It’s really an unfortunate situation to be in, especially at Indy.”

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INDIANAPOLIS – Erica Enders has been to the top of the drag racing world twice, finishing as Pro Stock world champion in 2014 and 2015. She’s the most decorated female racer in class history and she even has a victory at the sport’s biggest race — the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals — in 2015.

Maybe that’s why she sounds so bullish on her chances of winning drag racing’s crown jewel for a second time Monday when eliminations begin at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indy.

“I say it every time but my money’s always on my guys because they’re the best in the business and we’ve proven that time after time,” Enders said. “When they give me a car that goes A-to-B, nine times out of 10 we’ll turn the win light on.  I’m optimistic about tomorrow. We’ll do our best and see what happens.”

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INDIANAPOLIS – Following a very successful five-race stint as title sponsor of two-time Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders and her Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, Melling Performance announced a contract extension through the end of the 2017 season with the most acclaimed female driver in Pro Stock history.

Melling Performance initiated its involvement in the world’s quickest and fastest motorsport after CEO Mark Melling attended one of the Charlotte drag races in 2016.

“All I knew was NASCAR,” Melling said. “Coming to the drag races really opened my eyes to what a great sport the NHRA has going. If you can’t get excited about all the horsepower going on out there, you’re not a race fan whatsoever.”

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INDIANAPOLIS – The annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals is drag racing’s biggest event, but native Houstonian Erica Enders admits it will be hard to focus on the task at hand when the weekend arrives considering the epic devastation in her hometown.

“My heart is broken,” Enders said. “It’s impossible to get your mind around this catastrophe. I watch the news and see so many areas I know and they are under 10 feet of water. Most of the people I grew up with around the Cypress area have gotten some level of flooding. It’s going to take months to recover.

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BRAINERD, MN – Although she was unable to capture her third career Brainerd win at this weekend’s 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Erica Enders says progress is being made with her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, as witnessed by her race day performance.

After qualifying with a 6.665-second quarter-mile pass at a top speed of 206.42 mph, Enders managed to improve her best time of the event twice on Sunday, first beating teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. with a 6.659 at 207.78 mph and then running a 6.648 at 207.66 mph in a close loss to Tanner Gray.

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BRAINERD, MN – Fresh off a runner-up finish at the NHRA tour’s last stop in Seattle, two-time Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders has proven her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro is very consistent this weekend at the 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

Enders qualified mid-pack in the No. 8 position in the elimination field, running a best of 6.665 at 206.42 mph to go with a 6.679, a 6.682 and a 6.695. While the car is repeating well, Enders says an issue getting out of the starting blocks is holding them back.

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BRAINERD, MN – Just a few days removed from competing in the closest drag race of the entire NHRA season, two-time Brainerd champion and crowd favorite Erica Enders knows she only needs to gain an eyelash of performance to score her next victory, which she hopes will come at this weekend’s 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

Enders finished the recent Seattle race just .0006 behind Drew Skillman. The almost imperceptible margin between the two cars has only served to motivate and inspire the two-time series champ to grind even harder for her second win of the year and 23rd of his illustrious career.

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KENT, WA – Professional drag racing is the only motorsport in the world with the need to time things to the 10-thousandth of a second, an increment of time put to the test in the final round of Sunday’s 30th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals when two-time Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders was edged by Drew Skillman by .0006 seconds, or an estimated one inch, making it the closest drag race of the entire season.

“That was so close,” Enders said. “I thought I had him. It felt like we were just a sliver ahead of him but it’s really hard to tell at that speed. You’re not really looking over because 100-percent of your focus is getting to that stripe first. I was pretty sure I was going to push the gas pedal through the floorboard.”

Had Enders gained one more tick at the starting line–she left five-thousandths of a second ahead of Skillman — her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro would have reached the other end first, but Skillman’s 6.604 at 209.33 mph was just enough to take the win ahead of Enders’ 6.609 at 209.49 mph.

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