Erica Enders celebrates her season opening Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals win at Gainesville Raceway. (Photo: NHRA Media)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Erica Enders has done a lot of winning in her career, but until Sunday, none of it had happened at the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
Years of bad luck at Gainesville faded away in 6.494 seconds as Enders put herself at the top of the Pro Stock point standings, the same place where she finished the 2023 season.
“It just goes to show you, when you set your goals, and you set them high, and you work hard, you can get it done,” Enders said. “This one has eluded us for a long time and it will sit proudly on our shelf at home, I can promise you that.”
After qualifying No. 1 for race day, Enders had to go through three teammates and a rival to get the Gatornationals monkey off her back, including a final round pairing with teammate Cristian Cuadra. When Cuadra’s tires shook off the line, Enders drove away to the win light.
There was more to celebrate than just her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Scag Power Equipment Chevrolet’s big win. Getting to face her teammate in the final round completed a great day across the board for the Elite Motorsports team.
“Two Elite Motorsports cars in the final round. That’s pretty awesome,” Enders said. “The Cuadra boys, they are a huge asset to this team and to our sport. Those boys are going be a force to be reckoned with, I promise. Cristian and I joked and talked on Thursday that we should meet in the finals and then we qualified one and two and I was like, we can really do this.”
Enders joked with Fox reporter Amanda Busick after her semi-final round win that she had told the team to go to Gainesville Raceway without her after last year when her car would not start at the staging lanes for the first round of eliminations.
“After it didn’t crank last year, I told them, ‘Y’all go to Gainesville, I’m going to the beach.’ But I’m glad I changed my mind,” Enders told Busick. Her day only got better from there, taking down Cuadra in the final round.
While disappointed to come up just short, Cuadra was excited to start the season with a final round appearance. He is 0-4 in final rounds, with all four losses coming to his teammate, Enders.
“All my final rounds are against her,” Cuadra noted. “Hopefully one day I can beat her. I’m really excited. I’m really happy. We started the season really good. I didn’t expect to be this good. We qualified second, finished runner-up and we’re second in points. So it’s awesome.”
Erica Enders drove her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance Chevrolet to her first win at Gainesville Speedway on Sunday. (Photo: NHRA Media)
In the first round of eliminations, Enders took out another teammate, rookie Kelley Murphy, using a 6.496 second pass to outpace Murphy’s 6.554 seconds. Another teammate stood in her way in round two of eliminations, but once again, Enders was up to the task, overcoming a .023 second disadvantage at the starting line to outrun Aaron Stanfield with a 6.508 second pass to his 6.534.
The friendly fire ceased in the third round of eliminations, as Enders lined up across from familiar foe Greg Anderson. She dialed up her best run of the day with a 6.484 second pass against Anderson, who could only muster a 6.508, setting the stage for the final round against Cuadra.
Cuadra’s first round opponent was veteran racer Larry Morgan. He bested Morgan’s 6.582 second pass with a 6.495. In the second round, Cuadra ran a 6.528 to best teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr., who turned on the red light, handing Cuadra the win. In the semifinals, Cuadra and his Corral Boots/Cuadra/Columbia Impex Chevrolet faced off with Dallas Glenn. Cuadra got off the line first and drove to a 5.535 second pass to beat Glenn’s 5.582 second run.
Eliminations Round One Highlights
- No. 8 qualifier Stanfield beat Deric Kramer
- No. 4 qualifier Anderson beat No. 13 qualifier Jerry Tucker
- No. 12 qualifier Brandon Foster had the upset of the day with a win over No. 4 qualifier Troy Coughlin Jr.
- No. 7 qualifier Jeg Coughlin Jr. beat No. 10 qualifier Fernando Cuadra Jr.
- No. 3 qualifier Glenn ousted No. 14 qualifier Kenny Delco
- No. 11 qualifier David Cuadra picked up his first career round win over No. 6 qualifier Matt Harford.
Erica Enders picked up the Pro Stock win at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season opening event at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida on Sunday. (Photo: NHRA Media)
