Confidence, momentum on NHRA Pro Stock points leader Erica Enders’ side

Erica Enders is taking a ton of confidence and momentum into this weekend’s NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway.

The trick now, Enders said Friday, is to keep building on both – and keep winning – in the first event of the NHRA’s six-race “Countdown to the Challenge.”

“There’s no room for error, there’s no room for complacency,” Enders said. “These six (races) are very significant, so we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We can’t start thinking about Sunday’s finals before we even get through the first round of qualifying.”

Enders, the defending NHRA Pro Stock series champion, has won six race titles – at Las Vegas, Houston, Topeka, Kan.; Bristol, Tenn.; Brainerd, Minn.; and the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis – in seven final-round appearances this season.

“The momentum is definitely crucial, but I believe you create your own,” Enders said. “But the confidence coming off of the last two wins that plays a huge role as well to our attitude rolling in here.”

However, Enders’ confidence and momentum were on the downswing just a month ago.

After winning at Bristol on June 21 and moving atop the Pro Stock points, Enders and her Elite Motorsports team went into a skid over the next five races.

Enders lost in the first round at Norwalk, Conn.; lost in the semifinals at Chicago and Denver (both times to Larry Morgan), and lost in the second round at Sonoma, Calif., and Seattle.

“Things just weren’t going right,” Enders said. “We had some parts failures, some silly stuff that we couldn’t help. But we’re double- and triple-checking things now. We learned from it.

“Slumps are part of the sport. What makes you who you are is going through those tough times. It’s not the trophies; it’s how you handle the valleys.”

The wins at Brainerd and Indianapolis – the last two events before the Carolina Nationals – put Enders back atop the standings. She enters the Countdown with a 30-point lead over four-time series champ Greg Anderson.

Enders would like nothing better to add to her win total this season. She’s never won at zMax Speedway, but has made it to the final round there twice.

“Winning here would be huge,” Enders said. “I haven’t been able to get it done, but I want to knock that one off my list for race wins. That’s what we came here for; we didn’t come to visit.”

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 11:58 PM with the headline "Confidence, momentum on NHRA Pro Stock points leader Erica Enders’ side."