Erica Enders and her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG Power Equipment team picked up their fourth No. 1 qualifying position of the season Saturday at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Enders’ No. 1 elapsed time of 6.585 seconds at 209.56 mph came in the first of three qualifying sessions on Saturday. The No.1 is the 38th of her career and first at Virginia Motorsports Park.
“We knew the first session was going to be the good one out of the three and so we put a lot of emphasis on it because conditions were only going to get progressively worse throughout the day. Fortunately, my guys are good enough to make sure we make a good hit first round and it stuck as conditions got worse,” Enders said. “We laid down two decent runs after that. There are a couple of pretty fast cars out there and it’s going to be a dog fight tomorrow. These conditions are extremely challenging as far as racing surface goes for our crew chiefs but also as drivers. These heavy fire suits and cockpit temperatures at 150 degrees, granted you’re not in there very long but getting your temperature up that high is not conducive to good decision-making skills. But it’s still fun and we’re going to go out there and do our best. Tomorrow is going to be very challenging.”
In the new two-day format, Enders had three sessions of qualifying Saturday. In her second try, Enders would handle her JHG / Melling machine to a 6.614-second pass at 209.62 mph to be quickest of the session during the heat of the day, a strong sign for race day. Her qualifying performance earned her a total of six bonus qualifying points.
In the final session, Enders lined up against Greg Anderson in what was also the final for the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. Enders would go 6.627 seconds in 208.26 mph but come up short to Anderson’s 6.626 at 206.80.
Sitting No. 1, Enders will face Kenny Delco in the first round of eliminations on Sunday. She is chasing her first win at Virginia Motorsports Park, the only venue on the current NHRA schedule where she has not visited the winners circle. A victory tomorrow would also be her 50th national event win, 49th in Pro Stock.
“This is the last track that I haven’t won at on tour. So, if we could get the win tomorrow and have it be our 50th, that would just be an ultimate Sunday,” Enders said. “And then we could get that off of our back and continue on with our season.”
Eliminations for the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia NHRA Nationals are slated for Sunday at noon with first round of Pro Stock at 1 p.m. Television coverage of the event will continue on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with a second qualifying show Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET. Eliminations will air Sunday at 5:00 p.m. ET.
This story was originally published on June 22, 2024. 
