Erica Enders and the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG Power Equipment team made their first final round appearance of the season Sunday at the NHRA New England Dragway at New England Dragway.
Enders, in the 83rd final round of her career, faced off with Greg Anderson for the 59th time, 13th time in a final round. The JHG / Melling machine knocked the tires off almost immediately forcing Enders to coast to a 19.498-second pass at 41.79 mph and watch Anderson cross the finish line with a track record pass of 6.469 at 212.19 for the win.
“We did decent during qualifying, but Sunday was a different story. We made a good run first round, and it went downhill from there,” Enders said. “I’m ecstatic about our final round appearance but we didn’t get there the way we should have. I’ve spent my entire life doing this and there have been a ton of races we should have won but didn’t. On the other side of that we have won many that we shouldn’t have. Today was one of those days.”
Enders started race day from her best qualifying spot of the year, No. 4, thanks to a 6.500-second pass at 208.26 mph. She lined up against Deric Kramer in the first-round and handled her JHG/Melling car to a 6.500 pass at 211.06 mph to take down Kramer’s 6.539 at 211.23.
In the quarterfinals, Enders had to drive through tire shake for a 9.045-second pass at 112.38 mph that was enough to take down Cory Reed. Reed had issues starting from his burnout and ultimately the car died coasting to a 28.751 pass at 23.85. The win set Enders up with a semifinal matchup against teammate Aaron Stanfield.
Stanfield would have the starting line advantage but shook almost immediately and pushed in the clutch for a 7.348-second pass at 172.17 mph. Enders once again had to drive through tire shake with a quick pedal job to get the win at 6.954 and 210.24.
“We will take the positives from this weekend and keep plugging away. We have been working really hard to make some forward progress. After our last test session in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it was the first time all year that I felt there was a glimmer of hope for us,” Enders said. “At least we have a direction to head with a slight pep in our step. I promise nobody wants to beat the other side of the aisle more than my boys and I at Elite. I say, ‘Game on.’”
En route to the semifinals, Stanfield qualified No. 9 on a 6.565-second pass at 209.26 mph to face Chris McGaha in the first round. Stanfield’s 6.554 pass at 211.20 mph sent C. McGaha’s 6.973 at 208.97 packing. In the second round against rookie Cody Coughlin, Stanfield had the race won at the starting line when Coughlin went -.180 red. Stanfield had a clean pass at 6.506 and 213.10 to get to the semifinals.
With their semifinal appearance Enders and Stanfield will have a rematch of their duel for the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge during Saturday qualifying at the next event. They’ll battle it out for a chance at championship bonus points and a cash prize.
Elite Motorsports next heads to Bristol Dragway for the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals June 6-8, race seven of 18 on the Pro Stock Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series 2025 schedule.
This story was originally published on June 2, 2025.
The post Erica Enders’ Runner-Up Finish Leads Elite Motorsports at New England Dragway first appeared on Drag Illustrated.