With a 165-point lead in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship, Pro Stock standout Erica Enders is experiencing the best season of her illustrious career that includes four Pro Stock world championships to date. As the talented driver seeks her fifth championship, she knows that she enters the penultimate event of the 2022 season with a target on her back as many of her fellow competitors including several of her Elite Motorsports teammates will seek to overtake her lead this weekend at the 22nd annual NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Las Vegas has been good to Enders in the past, including earlier this year when she walked away victorious at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas earlier this year, making her the winningest professional driver in the track’s history. Enders has picked up nine wins this year, tying her career-best for a single season, with two races remaining.
“I’m really excited to head to Las Vegas,” Enders stated enthusiastically. “We have had a ton of success at The Strip and we are looking forward to what could potentially be an amazing weekend. I feel really great about my Melling Performance Chevy Camaro and the guys I have in my corner. This has been a tremendous season for us and we are going to do our best to finish strong. With just two races remaining, we have no plans on letting up on our competition. We will put our heads down and go to work like we always do! We will keep our eyes on the prize and let the others worry about the rest.”
Enders’ Elite Motorsports teammates Aaron Stanfield (currently in second) and Troy Coughlin Jr. (currently in fourth) are prepared to make moves in the points standings this weekend in what will be an exciting and action-packed weekend of drag racing competition. In order to clinch the world championship this weekend, Enders will need to advance one more round than Stanfield.
“I love racing in Vegas, it’s a great racetrack and we would love to get a win,” said Stanfield. “I’m feeling confident about my hot rod. The guys have been working hard to make sure we finish the season strong, I just need to focus and do the job. As the season is coming to a close I think as a whole, the Elite team has been very strong and I am thankful to be part of it.”
Coughlin is also feeling positive as he prepares to compete in his JEGS.com Camaro. The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a favorite for the young racer.
“The fall Vegas race is always one of the coolest races for me,” said Coughlin. “I won my first national event in Super Comp at this race when I was 19 in 2009. The boys have been hard at it on the dyno pretty much seven days a week so I have all the confidence in the world! I’m as proud as ever to wear the Elite Motorsports and JEGS colors and we’re ready to finish strong.”
Additional members of the Elite Motorsports Pro Stock drag racing team, the largest professional race team in the NHRA, include Bo Butner and the Cuadra Boys – Fernando Sr. and his sons Fernando Jr. and Cristian. Bo Butner is currently just a few points away from the No. 8 spot in the Countdown to the Championship and as a former world champion, this highly-skilled competitor will certainly be one to watch this weekend in his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Camaro. He’s been a strong presence throughout the Countdown and he tends to shine in times of intense pressure.
The Cuadra Boys continue to compete amongst each other to determine who will be the first to bring a national event Pro Stock victory to their home in Leon, Mexico.
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series competition kicks off this Friday, October 28 with the first session of qualifying at 12:30 p.m. local time.
This story was originally published on October 26, 2022. 
