Erica Enders

[67 Nova Boy]

https://www.facebook.com/ericaenders...0751747824408/

Dave
67 Nova Boy

[67 Nova Boy]

https://www.facebook.com/ericaenders...0157738067819/

Dave
67 Nova Boy

[67 Nova Boy]

https://www.instagram.com/tv/By54DrQ..._web_copy_link

Dave
67 Nova Boy

[67 Nova Boy]

https://twitter.com/i/status/1142605298294824963

Two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Erica Enders barely escaped a fire in her Chevrolet Camaro at the back end of a qualifying run in the NHRA Pro Mod class at Summit Motorsports Park at Norwalk, Ohio, on Saturday.

Enders, who won the NHRA's Pro Stock title in 2014 and 2015, crossed the line with the scoreboard showing a record-setting speed run of 261.22 mph as her car burst into flames.

"I had just made a pretty great run -- our best of the weekend and reset the speed world record," Enders said. "I hit my chutes and then went to the transmission to make sure it was in neutral and right at the stripe, I knew the motor had let go.

"It was a terrible sound. I'd done it before and I knew exactly what it was."

What Enders described next was nothing short of chilling.

"At that point, the cockpit started filling up with smoke," she said. "My thought process was I need to get the car stopped as quickly as I can and in the process of that to make sure I get my fire bottles. So I reached up to pull the fire pin and you don't realize how bad you suck at holding your breath until you need air."

"I was running out of air pretty quick and it was getting really hot in there and at that point, I just needed to stop and the car got sideways on me because I needed to stop so quickly. At that point, I'm blind because of the smoke and the flames and I'm out of air and I just needed to get out."


Enders said the battle with her seatbelts was the next hurdle as her cockpit was filling with smoke.

"I hit my seatbelts once I was stopped and then my focus was to get my window net down, but without having vision and in a pressure situation was more challenging than one might suspect," she said. "That was the biggest issue I had -- getting my window net down to get out. I knew the Safety Safari guys where there because I could hear them yelling.

"I finally found the first button with my thumb and I hit it. I don't even know if I got the second button, I just dove out of the car and I was on my stomach laying on the ground and yelling, 'My back is burning, my back is burning' so they hosed me down with the fire extinguisher. At that point, it quit burning, but I had no air and was choking and I just pushed myself up and got on my knees."

Out of the car, Enders said, she was choking.

"As I lifted my eyes up, I saw a bunch of yellow that the Safety Safari wears and the first person I saw was (driver) Justin Bond, who I ran next to," Enders said. "He still had his safety equipment on and I assumed it was my competitor. I could only see his eyes and he was like, "Get your helmet off, get your helmet off!" So he helped me take my gloves off and he took my safety equipment for me and was yelling at Safety Safari to get me some oxygen.

"I was choking for air. I guess I had inhaled so much smoke and carbon that it made me sick and I think I puked on the race track. I was coughing up all kinds of stuff. It was definitely not a pleasant situation. The safety guys and guys got my arms and walked me to the ambulance, where I got some oxygen."

Enders was checked out by medical staff onsite and cleared. #NorwalkNats


After getting her bearings, Enders' thoughts turned to her Pro Stock car and that qualifying in that class was minutes away. And, yes, Enders was back in the car minutes after being cleared to drive. Her Pro Mod car, however, was done.

"As soon as I got done getting checked out, I could see my whole team and I asked them if my Pro Stock car was ready and that's when my whole thought process changed," she said. "Once I got cleared from medical, (the Pro Stock car) was my focus.

"I'm fine," she said. "After seeing the car, it's pretty crazy. You realize how quickly things can change. Life can change in a matter of a second. I'm thankful for Sparco and Bell and all of my safety equipment that kept my ass from burning. After seeing what's remaining of the car, I'm pretty lucky. I'm thankful that my angels where hard at work protecting me.

"The Good Lord saved me today. I'm thankful. Glad I get to focus on Pro Stock tomorrow and see if we can kick their ass."

[67 Nova Boy]

NORWALK, Ohio -- Friday's results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 13th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, 12th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.

Top Fuel -- 1. Brittany Force, 3.712 seconds, 328.38 mph; 2. Leah Pritchett, 3.714, 325.45; 3. Mike Salinas, 3.720, 326.32; 4. Steve Torrence, 3.725, 328.30; 5. Terry McMillen, 3.739, 322.73; 6. Antron Brown, 3.742, 326.00; 7. Richie Crampton, 3.743, 329.18; 8. Billy Torrence, 3.743, 329.02; 9. Clay Millican, 3.760, 325.77; 10. Jordan Vandergriff, 3.774, 320.28; 11. Austin Prock, 3.776, 324.90; 12. Doug Kalitta, 3.783, 326.40; 13. Scott Palmer, 3.836, 319.52; 14. Pat Dakin, 3.888, 282.95; 15. Kyle Wurtzel, 4.066, 230.61; 16. Lex Joon, 4.929, 152.00. Not Qualified: 17. Chris Karamesines, 5.769, 189.42; 18. Cameron Ferre, 11.204, 68.63; 19. Luigi Novelli, broke.

Funny Car -- 1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 3.879, 329.18; 2. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.884, 329.02; 3. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.915, 329.26; 4. Blake Alexander, Ford Mustang, 3.921, 314.39; 5. J.R. Todd, Toyota Camry, 3.927, 324.90; 6. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.928, 326.40; 7. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.931, 324.44; 8. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.935, 323.04; 9. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.938, 297.81; 10. Paul Lee, Charger, 3.954, 324.51; 11. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.975, 325.22; 12. Shawn Langdon, Camry, 4.009, 317.05; 13. Dale Creasy Jr., Charger, 4.030, 317.19; 14. Bob Bode, Mustang, 4.099, 280.02; 15. Jim Campbell, Charger, 4.108, 309.56; 16. Jeff Diehl, Camry, 4.231, 249.21. Not Qualified: 17. Terry Haddock, 4.284, 290.01; 18. Jonnie Lindberg, 4.561, 184.90; 19. Cruz Pedregon, 8.462, 75.36; 20. Mike McIntire, 10.326, 82.12.

Pro Stock -- 1. Deric Kramer, Chevy Camaro, 6.559, 210.18; 2. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.559, 209.59; 3. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.560, 211.00; 4. Rodger Brogdon, Camaro, 6.560, 209.88; 5. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.562, 210.18; 6. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.562, 209.26; 7. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Camaro, 6.571, 209.04; 8. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.572, 209.92; 9. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.573, 207.18; 10. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.583, 210.44; 11. Fernando Cuadra, Camaro, 6.584, 210.77; 12. Val Smeland, Camaro, 6.600, 207.78; 13. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.601, 210.18; 14. Wally Stroupe, Camaro, 6.676, 208.33; 15. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.720, 206.20; 16. Shane Tucker, Camaro, 6.841, 201.70. Not Qualified: 17. David Miller, 7.283, 155.06; 18. Alan Prusiensky, 12.292, 112.71.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.844, 197.08; 2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.852, 196.90; 3. Matt Smith, EBR, 6.867, 198.12; 4. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.868, 196.19; 5. Scotty Pollacheck, EBR, 6.884, 195.05; 6. John Hall, Suzuki, 6.902, 195.76; 7. Angie Smith, EBR, 6.928, 196.13; 8. Angelle Sampey, Harley-Davidson, 6.935, 192.06; 9. Hector Arana, EBR, 6.940, 197.25; 10. Cory Reed, EBR, 6.952, 194.72; 11. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.963, 194.97; 12. Joey Gladstone, EBR, 6.968, 193.21; 13. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.009, 193.29; 14. Marc Ingwersen, Buell, 7.017, 189.79; 15. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 7.023, 191.92; 16. Michael Ray, Buell, 7.171, 158.24. Not Qualified: 17. Odolph Daniels, 7.292, 176.60.

[67 Nova Boy]

NORWALK, Ohio -- Sunday's first-round pairings for eliminations for the 13th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the 12th of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below pairings.
Top Fuel -- 1. Brittany Force, 3.712 seconds, 328.38 mph vs. 16. Lex Joon, 4.030, 256.60; 2. Leah Pritchett, 3.714, 325.45 vs. 15. Luigi Novelli, 3.938, 292.71; 3. Mike Salinas, 3.720, 326.32 vs. 14. Pat Dakin, 3.782, 325.30; 4. Clay Millican, 3.723, 325.22 vs. 13. Doug Kalitta, 3.780, 323.50; 5. Steve Torrence, 3.725, 328.30 vs. 12. Jordan Vandergriff, 3.774, 320.28; 6. Terry McMillen, 3.739, 322.73 vs. 11. Austin Prock, 3.771, 326.63; 7. Antron Brown, 3.742, 326.00 vs. 10. Scott Palmer, 3.755, 323.66; 8. Richie Crampton, 3.743, 329.18 vs. 9. Billy Torrence, 3.743, 329.02.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Kyle Wurtzel, 4.066, 230.61; 18. Chris Karamesines, 4.402, 257.83; 19. Cameron Ferre, 11.204, 68.63.

Funny Car -- 1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 3.879, 329.18 vs. 16. Bob Bode, Ford Mustang, 4.099, 280.02; 2. John Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.884, 329.02 vs. 15. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 4.053, 303.84; 3. Paul Lee, Charger, 3.914, 326.08 vs. 14. Dale Creasy Jr., Charger, 4.030, 317.19; 4. Jack Beckman, Charger, 3.915, 329.26 vs. 13. Jonnie Lindberg, Mustang, 4.024, 319.82; 5. Blake Alexander, Mustang, 3.921, 314.39 vs. 12. Shawn Langdon, Toyota Camry, 3.999, 315.71; 6. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.923, 326.63 vs. 11. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.943, 325.85; 7. J.R. Todd, Camry, 3.927, 324.90 vs. 10. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.938, 297.81; 8. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.928, 326.40 vs. 9. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.935, 323.04.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Jim Campbell, 4.101, 309.56; 18. Terry Haddock, 4.196, 290.01; 19. Jeff Diehl, 4.231, 249.21; 20. Mike McIntire, 4.883, 160.77.

Pro Stock -- 1. Deric Kramer, Chevy Camaro, 6.559, 210.18 vs. 16. Shane Tucker, Camaro, 6.841, 201.70; 2. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.559, 209.59 vs. 15. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.720, 206.20; 3. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.560, 211.00 vs. 14. Wally Stroupe, Camaro, 6.667, 208.20; 4. Jason Line, Camaro, 6.560, 210.57 vs. 13. Val Smeland, Camaro, 6.600, 207.78; 5. Rodger Brogdon, Camaro, 6.560, 209.88 vs. 12. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.591, 209.04; 6. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.562, 209.26 vs. 11. Fernando Cuadra, Camaro, 6.584, 210.77; 7. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Camaro, 6.571, 209.04 vs. 10. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.574, 210.14; 8. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.572, 209.92 vs. 9. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.573, 207.18.
Did Not Qualify: 17. David Miller, 7.283, 155.06; 18. Alan Prusiensky, 11.750, 112.71.

Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.843, 197.45 vs. 16. Michael Ray, Buell, 7.041, 178.26; 2. Matt Smith, EBR, 6.848, 198.90 vs. 15. Kelly Clontz, Suzuki, 7.020, 191.43; 3. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.852, 196.90 vs. 14. Marc Ingwersen, Buell, 6.968, 192.41; 4. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.868, 196.19 vs. 13. Joey Gladstone, EBR, 6.968, 193.21; 5. Scotty Pollacheck, EBR, 6.881, 194.04 vs. 12. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.963, 194.97; 6. Angelle Sampey, Harley-Davidson, 6.887, 191.76 vs. 11. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 6.923, 193.68; 7. Angie Smith, EBR, 6.888, 197.28 vs. 10. Cory Reed, EBR, 6.915, 194.13; 8. John Hall, Suzuki, 6.902, 195.76 vs. 9. Hector Arana, EBR, 6.905, 196.22.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Odolph Daniels, 7.292, 176.60.

[67 Nova Boy]

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[67 Nova Boy]

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[Salvatore]

WOWZA, fires are a bad thing in a race car!

[67 Nova Boy]

It’s been a wild few weeks but like we always do, we learn from things thrown our way. I’ve had two of the sketchiest experiences in my almost 3 decade career in the last two races, but even that won’t stop us. . I want to get this out there tonight to leave it behind us before we embark on #WallyDay Tomorrow for pro stock.

First, i want to thank God and the angels of protection he assigns to me every time I get in any car. What we do is dangerous but it’s part of it, but knowing he’s got it under control is the ultimate comfort.

Im also thankful for such A supportive family. Both blood and racing. My sister was by my side in the ambulance from the first second I can remember and had my dad on the phone through it all. Being on the road for 300 days a year comes at a huge price and It’s refreshing to know that my core circle is so tight. In a crazy situation like I experienced today, I still remembered advice my dad programmed in my head my entire life...the key to speeding up, is slowing down. It worked today. I was blind and out of oxygen, but I was able to be calm enough to not crash and get out, unburned.

I also want to thank my team owner and partner, Richard Freeman. I’ve said it over and over the last 6 years...people are the most important part of the puzzle. I’ve wish my entire career for this crazy group. Richard has put together the most amazing group...not just on the pro stock side but with pro mod team as well. Without our fearless leader, we wouldn’t have all of the tools or any of the fun.

My car owner, Jim Hairston (and his family). This car was his baby and I’m so sorry that she is hurt but I’m sure we will fix her up. Jim, Jake and Clint are so amazing and I’m lucky to have the chance to drive their car.

My team. My boys. They work their tails off for me and us. Every time I get in either of my cars, I know, without a doubt, that I’m safe. This life isn’t easy and they are gone from their wives, girlfriends and children way too much. I’m glad we are in this together and I’m so grateful that they always have my back. Seeing their faces and getting to hug their necks after this today was good medicine. (Please mention all of them...rick rickie mark lump Justin Shane T Anthony Lin Jake big al chase Robert Joey oksas Chris Singleton Rodney Crabtree Stephen Hurley mike earl Kyle Casey Kelley Keith Royce lee Alex jeg etc.)

The safety safari. Thank you for being there as soon as I stopped the car. You guys (and gals) are amazing. I tried to thank each of you personally, but if I missed you...THANK YOU!

Lastly, i want to thank all of my racing family, friends and fans for checking on me. Once I finally got my phone back, I had hundreds of calls and texts. It means the world that y’all took the time to let me know you care. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

In typical ee fashion, I want to take the positive from every situation. Today could have gone a total different direction. Life can change in an instant. Tell the people you love every chance you get and make sure you know God’s got ya.

And...on the business side, you have just met the biggest safety advocate for pro mod you have ever seen. I’ve preached about being proactive in the past but shit just got real. Some significant changes need to be made to these cars...for all of the drivers. If they aren’t, I’m out. My guys are behind me 100% and we are making them, starting Monday, on all 3 of our PM cars.

Again, thank you for all of the calls and texts. You guys mean the world to me and I’m a grateful girl tonight. Be sure to tune in tomorrow, we plan on wrecking shop in prostock!