CHEVROLET RACING IN NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
Chevrolet record-setting female drivers take aim at titles
Brittany Force, Erica Enders seek to add to championship totals
DETROIT (Nov. 5, 2019) – Big wins at Las Vegas set up higher stakes for Chevrolet record-setting drivers Brittany Force and Erica Enders at the Auto Club NHRA Finals.
“I want to go straight to Pomona,” said Force in reference to the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship finale Nov. 15-17 at Auto Club Raceway.
Force clinched the 2017 Top Fuel championship at the Southern California racetrack, and after a statement victory Nov. 3 in the Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet dragster at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway she has the race car and mindset to match to place a companion trophy on the mantle.
Enders, driver of the Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro SS, will seek to become a three-time Pro Stock champion. Enders’ second victory of the season and 25th of her career came at an opportune time as her closest pursuer in points fell in the first round of eliminations.
“I don’t think complacency is a word in our vocabulary. We work hard and we are going to go out to Pomona to win the race,” said Enders, who will take a 92-point lead over teammate and five-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. into the finale.
Enders earned the distinction of winning the 150th race by a female in the NHRA professional categories and posting the 200th victory for the Camaro brand in Pro Stock competition. Seventeen women have won in a pro category in NHRA history.
Force won the 900th Top Fuel event in NHRA history and set the NHRA Top Fuel national speed record at 338.17 mph in the second round of qualifying. She set the national elapsed time record of 3.623 seconds at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania, in the first race of the Countdown. Force also reset the track Top Fuel record of 3.652 seconds in the final round.
“We are all about milestones today,” said Enders, who recorded championships with Chevrolet in 2014 and ‘15. “I was able to get the 150th and I was able to share it with Brittany Force in the winner’s circle. Just a few years ago we were talking about the 100th win for females. I think it speaks volumes for the talent. That’s what I love so much about NHRA drag racing is that there are more women involved in the sport.”
Force and Erica Enders also won at the same event in Epping, New Hampshire, in 2017. The first time two women won at the same event was in Seattle 2012, when Courtney Force won in Funny Car and Enders won in Pro Stock.
Brittany Force and Enders are among four females who have garnered NHRA pro category season titles. Shirley Muldowney won Top Fuel championships in 1977, ’80 and ’82, while Angelle Sampey registered Pro Stock Motorcycle titles in 2000, ’01 and ’02.
“Erica Enders, what she’s done for this sport – two championships – and I’ve always looked up to her,” said Force, who is 16 points out of first place entering the finale. “She started in junior dragsters and I remember watching her movie when it came out on Disney. Courtney and I would watch that over and over just to get us pumped up before we’d go racing Super Comp. To share the winner’s circle with her this weekend is pretty awesome. She’s a great friend, she’s an incredible driver and pretty cool that we did 150 and 151.”