​ENDERS WINS ELITE MOTORSPORTS TRILOGY FIGHT AT NORWALK WITH A RJ BUILT CAMARO

Fighters get to know each other intimately over the course of multiple engagements. They learn each other’s tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. And, somehow, a trilogy seems particularly tidy.

On Sunday, Erica Enders impressed in a trilogy fight of her own, coming out on top as the veteran racer took two out of three from her Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield in their third-straight final round matchup at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park.

“Aaron is awesome. I joke and say that the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree,” said Enders in reference to Stanfield’s father, former Pro Stock racer Greg Stanfield. “These guys are competitors through and through and I know exactly what he is capable of. We look at each other's runs, our crew chiefs work together up there. There are no weird games going on. Aaron is just awesome. He is hungry and he is a tremendous wheelman. He has had a really fast car at the beginning of this year and I am proud to have him as a teammate and get to race with him.”

After watching her shot at four-straight victories - quite literally - go up in smoke one week ago at Bristol Dragway when she had an engine let go in the final round, Enders got back to her winning ways on Sunday. In the trilogy bout, Enders got away first and drove to a 6.658-second pass at 207.15 mph behind the wheel of her Melling Performance Chevrolet Camaro after a nearly three-hour rain delay between the semifinal and final rounds.

Stanfield, in his fifth final round of the season, earned the runner-up spot with a 6.658-second pass at 207.15 mph in his Janec Brother’s Racing Chevrolet Camaro.

Enders has now extended her points lead to nearly triple digits not even halfway through the season as she adds to what has arguably been one of her most dominating season starts to-date. And she doesn’t appear to be showing any signs of slowing, taking the pole, fastest lap of the weekend and the win with a backup motor after last weekend’s engine failure.

“I think we started off on the right foot in Pomona at the beginning of the year. We qualified on the pole and won the race. After we exploded in Bristol last week, the guys rallied and put in a new bullet that we have been hauling around with us as a backup and, as it turns out, she performed pretty flawlessly,” Enders said. “We mowed the scoreboard over on Friday night and threw up some pretty decent numbers on race day. I am really proud of my guys. They have worked so hard and put in some long hours and they deserve to reap all of the benefits. I attribute all of my success in the cockpit to them.

“This morning I said that if I have a mistake-free day we can end up in the winner’s circle and I feel like we did that.”

Enders collected her fifth Wally in six final round appearances this season. She also extended her round record to an impressive 23-3 on the year. Moments after climbing from her car, Enders was reflective of her journey from an afterthought on the tour to one of its most decorated drivers, earning her 38th career Pro Stock win in the close contest.

“You go back to the old days and you remember how long this journey has been. This is my 18th year in Pro Stock and I am sure some of the viewers are sick of this Melling Performance Chevy being parked in the winner’s circle,” Enders said. “But we went seven years winless. I drove for multiple teams and struggled to find money. But I finally have a home here at Elite Motorsports. These guys believe in me more than I do and I don’t have to question anything. As a driver, that clears my mind and it makes me a better driver. I cannot be more proud of these guys.”

Enders was once again the most dominating car on the property this weekend, sweeping nearly all benchmarks at the northern Ohio track. She solidly placed her Chevy on the pole position on Friday night with a 6.537-second pass - light years ahead of second place - and lit four win lights on Sunday in collecting her third win at Summit Motorsports Park. Enders also had wins at the track in 2021 and 2014.

“It always seems that wherever we have won the previous year we seem to do well the next year,” Enders said. “Winning here in Norwalk is significant to us for what the Bader family does for the sport. We love getting that ice cream scoop trophy.”

On Sunday, Enders had wins over Fernando Cuadra Jr., Matt Hartford and Deric Kramer to reach her 67th career final round.

Her 6.597-second pass in round one against Cuadra was the low elapsed time of race day. She also had easy wins over Hartford and Kramer, recording times of 6.635 and 6.611 to advance to her fifth final round in a row.

Stanfield had wins over Troy Coughlin Jr., Mason McGaha and Kyle Koretsky to reach his 11th career final round. He also had an exciting semifinal matchup against Koretsky as he almost threw away a shot at the finals when he smoked the tires at the hit, but his opponent lit the red light by .015. Stanfield limped across the finish line with a unique winning time of 16.957 seconds at 49 mph.

Prior to the season, Enders said that she set a goal for herself to win five races this year and, after Sunday’s victory, now has five wins with more than half of the season remaining. Can she record double digit wins this year?

“If the trend continues, it is definitely possible,” a confident Enders said. “We had a crazy awesome year in 2015 where we had nine wins and 11 final round appearances and locked up the championship in Las Vegas. We still have a lot of racing left to do, and there are a lot of really fast hot rods, but I think we have thoroughly pissed off the rest of the class this weekend.

“They are going to go and get back to work, but so are we. Just because we are a couple hundredths ahead right now doesn’t mean that we are going to go kick our feet up and sit on the beach.” Larry Crum