Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Female drag racer takes winning one step at a time

Thursday, March 3, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Erica Enders isn't content merely with making NHRA history.

Enders, 21, became only the fifth female driver to qualify for an NHRA Pro Stock field last weekend when she qualified 16th (out of 26 cars) for the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz.

Enders lost to Richie Stevens in the first round of eliminations Sunday but said she she still was encouraged by her weekend performance.

"Racing on Sunday for the first time as a professional driver was still exciting -- even if we didn't get the win," Enders said. "We tried our best but Richie just had the better car today and he did a great job driving.

"We didn't qualify in the first race, but we did in the second race. We didn't win a round, but we're going to Gainesville knowing we are capable of winning a round, if not three or four. It was exciting making the show (but) now I want to know what it's like to win. I have the best team in the pits and we're going to get better and better each week."

Enders was the subject of the 2003 Disney Channel movie "Right On Track," which detailed her life as a Junior Dragster competitor.

BACK ON TRACK: John Force rebounded from his first-round loss in the season opener at Pomona and captured the Funny Car title Sunday at Firebird Raceway.

The victory was the 115th of Force's career and extended his streak to 19 consecutive seasons in which he has at least one national-event win. Force also moved into second place in the Funny Car standings, 12 points behind Phil Burkart.

"It doesn't matter who won this race or who won Pomona," Force said. "We're not even going to look (at the points) until 10 or 12 races (into the season) to even get a strategy.

"Bottom line, there are a lot of good racecars and race teams out there and this is just the second race."

OUT OF STEP: Two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson, who won 15 of 23 races last season, lost in the first round of eliminations Sunday after bowing out in the second round at Pomona.

Anderson, who held the Pro Stock points lead for the entire 2004 season, is 10th in points after two races this season and trails front-runner Allen Johnson by 81 points.

"(Teammate Jason Line) and I both lost runs on Friday night because of mechanical problems and we just never seemed to catch up," Anderson said of his Firebird weekend. "We just never really seemed to get a handle on this racetrack; last year we almost always had a handle on the track.

"Don't count us out yet. The sign of a good team is reacting well in the face of adversity, and this is a good team. Championship teams like Force's always seem to react well to adversity and we'll do the same. We just have to keep working hard and get ready for Gainesville."

The NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series has the next weekends off before resuming the season March 18-20 with the Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

AT THE STRIP: Las Vegas residents Justin Buettner (Wild Street), Bob Coulter (Trophy) and Dana Young (Bracket 1) won their divisions in the 2005 Pacific Street Car Association season opener last weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Chuck Samuel of Kingston, Ill. won the Pro Street class, Steve Pauliskis of Peoria, Ariz., won Outlaw Street and Chris Alston of Elk Grove, Calif., captured the X-Treme Street class.