Elite Motorsports Pro Stock star Erica Enders became the winningest woman in motorsports today when she picked up the 47th national event win of her career at the NHRA Texas FallNationals at Texas Motorplex. The Elite Motorsports driver has 46 wins in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Stock category and one win in Super Gas from the beginning of her illustrious career.
“We definitely came in here on a mission,” said Enders. “It’s such a tight field. The top half was separated by only a few thousandths of a second. It’s absolutely crazy, cutthroat competition. I love racing at the Texas Motorplex. I’m so thankful to the Meyer family for what they do for our sport. We’re so blessed to race in Texas with a family who loves our sport as much as we do. I’m super stoked. My guys are amazing. I’m really grateful.”
From qualifying to the final round, the entire Elite Motorsports Pro Stock team shattered a number of personal bests in both speed and elapsed times this weekend at the Stampede of Speed.
Jerry Tucker made a career-best run during qualifying with a pass of 6.486 seconds at a blistering pace of 213.09 mph, laying down the best speed of any Pro Stock driver this season. That impressive run behind the wheel of his Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer Camaro landed him in the No. 4 position on the ladder in one of the quickest fields in Pro Stock history. His Elite Motorsports teammates Troy Coughlin Jr. and Enders were ahead of him on the qualifying sheet in the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively.
Fernando Cuadra Jr. achieved a new personal best E.T. and speed when he went 6.500 at 210.59 during qualifying. Not to be outdone, his brother Cristian Cuadra matched him with an identical career-best elapsed time with his pass of 6.500 at 210.20.
In the first round of eliminations at Texas Motorplex, Aaron Stanfield’s Janac Bros. / JC3 Energy Services / Melling Engine Parts Camaro defeated Kyle Koretsky after Koretsky shook the tires coming off the starting line. While F. Cuadra Jr. made an early exit against Matt Hartford, C. Cuadra piloted his Corral Boots Mustang to turn on the win light against Deric Kramer. In the next pair, Bo Butner left the clutch out and his car immediately veered left. He got back into the groove but it was not enough to take down Dallas Glenn. Tucker experienced a similar fate when he left the starting line a tick too early against Camrie Caruso.
Five-time reigning world champion Enders managed to outdo herself in the first round when she set the low E.T. of the event against Eric Latino with a savage pass of 6.467 at 212.23. Her teammate Coughlin was quick to follow suit.
While he had already reached a new personal best in his qualifying effort, that wasn’t good enough for Coughlin. In the first round of race day, he charged to the stripe against Mason McGaha with a vicious pass of 6.476 at 212.56 to achieve the best speed and elapsed time of his burgeoning career.
The Elite Motorsports team kept that positive momentum going into the second round of eliminations. Stanfield earned a holeshot win against Greg Anderson thanks to a stellar reaction time of .029 seconds. Coughlin and Matt Hartford were wire-to-wire in their quarterfinal race. Coughlin’s JEGS.com Camaro managed to stay ahead of Hartford to advance to the semifinals. Elite Motorsports teammates Enders and C. Cuadra rounded out the quarterfinal pairings. Enders got the starting line advantage and took it all the way to the stripe with yet another ferocious pass clocking a 6.473 at 211.74.
In the semifinals, Stanfield’s car lunged through the beams during staging against his opponent Glenn who made a clean pass to advance into the finals. And in yet another all-Elite pairing, Enders and Coughlin faced off against one another for the 15th time in their careers. Enders outpaced Coughlin at the hit with a fantastic reaction time of .012 seconds. Her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG Power Equipment Camaro held for the win as Coughlin went up in smoke just past half-track. He managed to pull the car over to the wall and safely exit the car despite the cockpit being full of smoke.
All eyes were on Texas native Enders as she pulled into the water box opposite Glenn. The fan-favorite driver launched first and raced to her third victory of the season running a 6.469 at 211.55, extending her championship points lead in the process.
Today’s triumph landed Enders in the record books as she earned the distinction of being the winningest woman not only in NHRA history but in all professional motorsports.
In the Right Trailers Top Sportsman category, David Cuadra went to his second final round of the season and the fifth of his career to earn a runner-up finish. Corral Boots, owned by the Cuadra family, debuted a new addition to the NHRA midway this weekend. The Corral Boots pop-up store built by Competition Trailers is the first of its kind. The unique retail offering garnered a lot of excitement from fans, customers, crews and sponsors as everyone wanted to see the dynamic display.
While it was a great event for all of the members of the Elite Motorsports team, the real MVP was Aubrey Coughlin, the precocious daughter of Troy Jr. and Brenna Coughlin. She outpaced the competition in this season’s final Red Line Oil toddler race emerging victorious with a standout performance by any estimation.
Competition in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series will continue on October 26-29 at the penultimate event of the season, the NHRA Nevada Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
This story was originally published on October 16, 2023. 
