THROWBACK THURSDAY: Erica Enders-Stevens’ FIRST Pro Stock Victory

On this weekend back in 2012, Erica Enders-Stevens finally broke through and claimed her first NHRA Pro Stock win, becoming the first woman to ever win in arguably the tightest professional category in all of drag racing. The talented young Texan had years of driving experience under her belt, even at the age of twenty-two when she first buckled into a Pro Stock car. After a career in the Junior Drag Racing League that was so successful it was made into a Disney Origina movie starring Beverly Mitchell, Erica stepped into a Super Gas car and immediately continued her winning ways, becoming the youngest finalist in the NHRA’s history when she went to the finals in Houston at the age of sixteen. She would go on to become the 35th female national event winner in NHRA history when she claimed a Super Gas Wally, again at Houston.

The next season, Enders-Stevens would step into the ultra-competitive world of Pro Stock, where she immediately made waves during her 2005 rookie campaign. That season, Erica became the first woman to ever qualify in the top half of the field in Pro Stock, and also became the first female finalist in class history when she took the runner up spot at Chicago. In 2005 alone, Enders-Stevens won more rounds of racing than all the women in class history before her combined. However, her first win would be almost six more years in the making.

The video below captured that moment, when Erica and her matte black Cobalt streaked to the stripe just ahead of multi-time world champion Greg Anderson’s Camaro. As most of you know, this was the first of many wins that would follow, with Erica going on to become a two-time world champion in the class herself, the first female to ever claim that title as well. With so many years of winning under her belt, we can only imagine how big her trophy room will be by the time she steps out from behind the wheel, hopefully many years – and many more wins – down the road.