NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Erica Enders’ two-year run in Pro Stock has been one of the most impressive stretches in the illustrious history of the class. She capped it off in Pomona last year with a second straight world championship, but Enders isn’t ready for the run to be over yet.

Fresh changes await with new rules for the Pro Stock class, and Enders will again have to compete against the top stars in the class in her Elite Motorsports Mopar Dodge Dart, but the two-time world champion is equal parts motivated and excited to defend her NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series crown amid all the happenings.

The second step in that title defense during the 2016 season comes at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, home to the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, Feb. 26-28. 

“It's been an incredible run, and I feel like we're nowhere close to being done,” said Enders, who has won 15 races in the past two seasons. “Having said that, it's tough out there every year. It's going to be a real tall order this year, for sure, with all the changes involved and the new program that we're building. But we'll get there. It's going to take time, but we're going to be fine. I always say it, but my money's on us. We've got the best group, the best crew chiefs, the best team owner, the best chassis builder, [and] the best drivers. Game on."

Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), and Rodger Brogdon (Pro Stock) were last year’s winners of the race in the Valley of the Sun. For fans watching at home, the race will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), including Saturday qualifying coverage as well as live coverage of Sunday’s finals at 5 p.m. ET. The race is the second of 24 during the 2016 season and will give fans an early look at how Enders and the rest of her Pro Stock counterparts have adjusted to the changes in the class.

Enders not only started 2016 with a new Mopar Dodge Dart, but the sleek new Pro Stock cars also feature fuel-injected engines, shorter wheelie bars, flat hoods, and a 10,500-rpm rev limiter. It has taken some adjustment, but Enders has total faith in an Elite Motorsports team, led by crew chiefs Rick and Rickie Jones, that has pushed all the right buttons the past two seasons. The team had a long to-do list in the offseason, but it has all come together quickly and seamlessly, and Enders is already impressed with the early returns.

“I pick them over anybody else in the whole world,” said Enders, who has 21 wins. “I know that if anybody can [adjust], we can. It's very challenging, and there's definitely going to be a learning curve involved. It's going to take time to get better, but at the same time, you've got to be optimistic. And we are; we'll be just fine.

“A lot of the teams over the offseason worked on the horsepower they had; we built two new teams, two new race cars, and a whole new Mopar engine program. We've jammed as much as you could pack into an offseason. With EFI added to the equation with a lower rev limiter and shorter wheelie bars, it's crazy.”

The learning curve is there for all of the Pro Stock standouts, a list that includes Enders and her new Dodge Dart teammate, five-time world champ Jeg Coughlin Jr., 2015 top rookie Drew Skillman, tough Texan Chris McGaha, Shane Gray, Vincent Nobile, Bo Butner, and veteran racers Allen Johnson, season-opening Circle K NHRA Winternationals winner and early-season points leader Greg Anderson, Jason Line, and V. Gaines.

Enders will continue to lean on a team that has dominated the last two years.

“You learn a lot when you experience things with the right people,” Enders said. “I'd always hoped for what I have here at Elite, and to finally have gotten a chance to work with such an elite group of people and to win the championship our first two years together says a lot.

“What impressed me last year is we were able to top what we accomplished in 2014, which was an absolute dream season. You wonder if that's even possible, and then we went out there and did just that by winning nine races, the U.S. Nationals for the first time, and then to wrap it up a race early was just crazy.”

The goal may be to repeat the performance in 2016, but Enders, a previous winner at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, knows that there may be bumps along the way. Bumps such as her unexpected first-round exit in Pomona last weekend. By now, though, Enders has proven time and time again that she and her team can overcome almost anything.

“When the chips are down, we pull together,” said Enders, who won three playoff races in the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship in 2015 but heads to Phoenix sitting outside the top 10 in points. “Not every race is great. You get through those times, and you get to further enjoy the really great ones. Nothing about us has changed. I've still got the same core group on my car: same guys, same crew chiefs. We've grown, with Jeg and Vincent, so there are more people we've added to the family, but the core group remains the same and so do our goals."

To purchase general-admission or reserved seats, call 800-884-NHRA (6472) or log on to NHRA.com/tickets. Kids 12 and under are admitted free in general-admission areas with a paid adult.