NHRA’s Enders-Stevens right at home in Las Vegas
Erica Enders-Stevens is from Houston, lives in New Orleans and really should consider making her home in Las Vegas.
It’s almost as if The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is her home track anyway.
Enders-Stevens continued her roll there Friday, posting the second-fastest qualifying time in Pro Stock at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, hitting the finish line in 6.617 seconds (208.94 mph). Jason Line, who drives for Las Vegas-based KB Racing, qualified first in 6.606 seconds (208.75 mph).
“It’s been a great track to me in the past, and my crew chiefs have a really good setup here,” the 31-year-old Enders-Stevens said. “We enjoy coming here. It’s an awesome facility, and the fans are great. The chance to come here twice a year is pretty cool.”
Las Vegas was especially good to her last year. She won both races, and in the spring also took the K&N Pro Stock Horsepower Challenge bonus event.
The spring victory in Las Vegas turned out to be an important one. Enders-Stevens and her Elite Motorsports team built on that win, taking it all the way to the Pro Stock championship.
“Last year here was really, really important because it was our first win as a new team,” she said. “It kick-started our year. It’s so unique to have a group like I have. In the 10 years I’ve been driving Pro Stock, I’ve never had a group of guys like I have now. So I feel very fortunate, very blessed.
“We work well together. There’s a really great natural team chemistry. We trust each other. We enjoy spending our time off the racetrack together, which is pretty cool because normally you want to get away from your people, but they’re an incredible bunch.”
She and the team made a bit of history last season. Enders-Stevens became the first woman to win the Pro Stock title, a feat she downplayed while at the same acknowledging the importance of having her name in the NHRA history book.
NHRA generally has been a welcoming place to women, and Enders-Stevens was the third to win a season title in one of the four classes. Shirley Muldowney in Top Fuel in 1977, 1980 and 1982 became the first female champion, and Angelle Sampey won three in a row beginning in 2000 in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
“They broke down those barriers and made it more acceptable,” Enders-Stevens said of her female predecessors. “There is still a ton of crap that you have to plow through being a little different, but (I) take it in stride and have fun with it. But I definitely feel like NHRA is awesome in that aspect.
“I look at what Danica (Patrick) is having to go through in NASCAR. It’s a bunch of good ol’ boys over there, and I’m fortunate I only have to race one at a time and I don’t have 30 of them chasing me trying to put me in the wall. There’s just a handful of people that still have that chauvinistic mentality, but for every one of them, there’s a million who believe in us and who are supportive.”
Winning helps, of course, but this season hasn’t begun so well, with Enders-Stevens fifth in the points standings.
She and her team had a difficult time adjusting to the new NHRA-mandated tire and fuel changes. Teams now use a different tire compound, and NHRA switched fuel companies.
“The fuel has been a tough challenge, but the tire has been insane,” Enders-Stevens said. “It requires a completely different setup for our racecar, how we run them, how we gear them, the chassis setups. We’re starting from scratch with two new rule changes and having to learn everything all over again.
“We’ll take it in stride. If anybody can do it, it’s my guys.”
The team also struggled in the new Chevrolet it debuted a month ago in Gainesville, Fla. So until the kinks get worked out with the new ride, Enders-Stevens is back with her old car, the one that won the championship.
“It’s going to be a great car, and we’re very excited about bringing it out,” Enders-Stevens said of the new Chevy. “But until we get confident with these new rules, we’re going to keep this car.”
■ NOTES — J.R. Todd with a time of 3.758 seconds (324.83 mph) leads qualifying in Top Fuel, and Matt Hagan at 4.007 seconds (318.02 mph) is first in Funny Car. … Qualifying resumes at 1:10 p.m. today. Two qualifying sessions again will take place. … The K&N Pro Stock Horsepower Challenge is at 1 p.m.
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.
