Enders Scores Emotional Win In First All-Female Pro Stock Final

For Houston native Erica Enders, the final round at Sunday’s NHRA SpringNationals was an emotional defense of the home turf. Despite having 37 NHRA Wally trophies on her shelf, including three from this very race — the most important trophy handed out in the 35-year history for the event –the last one — was one she would prize most.

For Pro Stock rookie Camrie Caruso, it wasn’t about the time, the place, or the moment, but simply capturing win number one.

Regardless of the outcome, history had already been made when the two ladies turned on the win-lights in their respective lanes a round earlier, setting up the first all-female NHRA Pro Stock final round in history. In fact it was the first raceday meeting between two women in Pro Stock, period.

Caruso, just five races into her Pro Stock career, scored a surprise No. 1 qualifier with an impressive 6.547-second lap on Friday night. Enders entered raceday second, just .006-seconds back. Caruso, who had yet to advance past the second round in her budding career, was primed for her best chance yet at going into the late rounds. For Enders, the weekend was about winning and accepting nothing less. She wanted that final trophy at a track that meant so much to she and her family; she raced junior dragsters there as a youngster, won her first national event there in Super Gas in 2004, and had visited victory lane two other times in Pro Stock.

Despite some pre-starting line drama for Caruso — her Camaro failing to perform a proper burnout on two attempts — she shook off the jitters and took an .030 to .053 holeshot advantage out of the gate on the four-time series champion. But she didn’t have the horsepower when it mattered most, trailing across the stripe, 6.568 to 6.624, in what amounted to a 10-foot margin of victory.

“I grew up drag racing here and I don’t know if I can put this into words,”…