Erica Enders heads to ESPYs with semifinal finish in Chicago
CHICAGO – Elite Motorsports driver Erica Enders heads to the 2015 ESPYs with a semifinal finish at the Lucas Oil 
Route 66 NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Route 66 Raceway.
Enders is nominated for the Best Driver award at the ceremony, which will be held Wednesday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Fans can still vote for Enders in the category that includes NASCAR’s Kevin Harvick, IndyCar’s Wil Power and Juan Pablo Montoya, and Formula One’s Lewis Hamilton here: http://espn.go.com/espys/2015/. Voting concludes at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, the start time for the live broadcast on ABC.
“It would’ve been nice to go there after a victory, but that didn’t happen,” Enders said. “We’re still excited about the nomination and the ceremony, and it’ll be a fun night, win or lose. It’s truly an honor to be in the Best Driver category, especially with such great drivers. I look forward to it.”
Enders won the 2014 Pro Stock championship to earn the ESPYs nomination, and her driving was showcased Sunday. In three rounds of racing, she had an average .024-second reaction time, but despite a stellar .017 light in the semifinals against Larry Morgan, she couldn’t get to her sixth final round of 2015. Morgan was .006 on the Christmas Tree, and his pass of 6.630 seconds at 209.88 mph held off her 6.625-second run at 209.36 mph.
“We just got beat,” Enders said. “Give Larry some credit; he’s a great driver and he got it done. That was a great race, but we came up a little short. I hate to lose and it stings when you get beat like that, but my Elite guys have my back. I appreciate that.”
With four victories, five final rounds, and four semifinal appearances, Enders remains second in the Pro Stock points standings. She was gunning for her second Chicago victory after an historic win in 2012 when she became the first woman to win a Pro Stock race.
“Chicago will always have a soft spot in my heart,” Enders said. “We have great success here, from my first final in 2005 and the win in 2012. We wish we could’ve gotten it done again today, but I still believe we have the best car and the best team. We’ll go after it in Denver.”
Enders started her day with a .024 light and a 6.593-second pass at 210.01 mph that dispatched V. Gaines, who slowed to a run of 18.683 seconds at 40.35 mph. Enders then left first on Rodger Brogdon with a .030 light, and she outran him with a pass of 6.608 seconds at 209.82 mph to beat his 6.624-second pass at 209.52 mph.
