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Score one for the women of the NHRA, as Erica Enders made history on Sunday night at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals by becoming the first female to win an NHRA Pro Stock race.
Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Jeff Arend (Funny Car) also were winners at the rain-delayed NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event near Chicago. Courtney Force made a bid to make it two women in victory circle at Joliet, Ill., as she advanced to the Funny Car final before coming up short against Arend.
Enders drove her GK Motorsports Chevrolet Cobalt to a final-round winning performance of 6.627 seconds at 207.40 mph to hold off four-time world champion Greg Anderson, who trailed in the race in his Summit Racing Chevy Camaro with a 6.641-second pass at 208.36 seconds.
Enders, one of only six females ever to compete in the 200-mph factory hot-rod category, raced past Kurt Johnson, Vincent Nobile and Vieri Gaines in the first three rounds to advance to her seventh career final round. From there the 28-year-old Houston native led season points leader Anderson all the way down the track in the final round to finally get the victory she has been seeking since starting her Pro Stock career in 2005.
“It’s awesome,” said Enders, who becomes the 12th female to win an NHRA pro category race. “I think that if I could have planned it, I would have asked to run Greg in the final. You know that he made it very clear that he didn’t want to lose to me. He’s a very competitive guy and I love him to death, but I couldn’t wait to beat him. I’m glad [the win] came here in Chicago. I had my first final in Pro Stock here in 2005, and so it was nice to circle back around and get it done here.
“Pro Stock is tough. It will humble you in an instant. When you think you’ve got it figured out, you go to Bristol and blow all your [engines] up. I can’t say enough about my guys [crew]. They’re amazing and I love them.”
“It doesn’t get better than this,” Brown said. “Coming here to Route 66 Raceway is always special and goes beyond words because our team owner Don [Schumacher] will be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, and what he’s done for the sport and our teams is amazing. Right now you look at Top Fuel and see how competitive that the class is. It’s as tight as Pro Stock car. We’re running ETs that are neck and neck, winning by 12 inches or less at over 320 mph.”
With the win, Brown moved to second in the points standings, behind series leader Tony Schumacher, the event’s No. 1 qualifier who was upset in the first round. Brown outran Morgan Lucas, David Grubnic and Shawn Langdon to advance to the final round.
“It feels so good to be back in victory lane,” Brown said after collecting his second trophy of the season. “Of course, we always dedicate any win to our Army Strong Soldiers. When they’re presented a mission, they don’t give up until it’s completed. For sure, that was us today. Our mission was to get four win lights and that’s exactly what we did.”
On the way to his meeting with Torrence, Brown had to get by two-time event winner Morgan Lucas, David Grubnic and
Shawn Langdon, respectively. The race against Langdon proved to be his toughest test as he posted a 3.794-second pass at 321.04 mph to Langdon’s 3.803-second trip at 319.37 mph.
“Man, that was like a final right there,” Brown said. “Shawn and his team are just unbelievable. In fact, all the drivers we beat today are from great teams. This Top Fuel class has gotten to be so tough. When you win one of these races, you have clearly earned it.”
Veteran driver Arend claimed his first Funny Car win of the season and fourth of his career by defeating rookie Courtney Force in the final round. Arend powered to a performance of 4.131 seconds at 309.20 mph in his DHL Toyota Camry to hold off the 24-year-old Force, who finished in 4.454 seconds at 272.67 mph in her Traxxas Ford Mustang.
“This was a real team effort this weekend,” Arend said. “I didn’t do the best job as a driver, at least not with my lights, but we were able to get it done. My crew got this car turned around faster than I’ve ever seen them do it and that made all the difference in the world. This is the first win for the new Toyota Camry so that makes it even more special. I got to the final [here] last year and didn’t win so this also makes up for that. I like to make the most of second chances.”
Arend raced past Tony Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson and Jack Beckman to get to the final. He said the three-hour rain delay, which forced teams to have quicker turnaround times in the pits between rounds, actually helped him stay focused on Sunday.
Main image thanks to: blogs.hotrod.com/GKMotorsports.com
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120701/nhra/120709994#ixzz1zV7WAWvv
