Dirt
NHRA ’ s Leading Ladies
Brittany Force , Erica Enders , and Karen Stoffer make history as NHRA record holders By Ryan Murray
It ’ s no surprise to see women thriving in the NHRA , but an incredible weekend in Gainesville earlier this year also led to something significant : female competitors holding the record for the quickest run in three of the four Camping World Series professional classes .
The Top Fuel record had already been owned by Brittany Force , which is certainly no surprise considering her penchant for making massive runs with crew chief David Grubnic calling the shots . She has held the quickest run of 3.623 seconds in the 11,000-horsepower nitro category for nearly three years , also making nine of the 10 fastest runs in NHRA history .
But four-time Pro Stock world champ Erica Enders and Pro Stock Motorcycle ’ s Karen Stoffer set records in Gainesville to add their names to the list , with Enders eclipsing a mark that had stood for nearly seven years with her run of 6.450 .
Enders ’ career has been filled with landmark achievement – and she already has three wins and the points lead in 2022 .
One of Enders ’ Elite Motorsports teammates , Aaron Stanfield , made a run of 6.468 earlier in the weekend , which at that time was the quickest run since Pro Stock switched to electronic fuel injection in 2016 . But Enders topped it the next day to eclipse that , as well as the run Jason Line made in 2015 , giving her both ends of the world record . Enders set the speed record in 2014 with a pass of 215.55 .
“ To me , the coolest part is that the record wasn ’ t just for the EFI era , we ran the quickest E . T . in Pro Stock history , including the carburetor era ,” Enders says . “ Owning the world record with two other females makes it even more special . Karen has been a hero of mine for many years . I shared the stage with her for my first-ever national event Wally [ in Super Gas ] in 2004 and a couple more times as a professional . Brittany and I have also shared the stage a few times and she has been super-fast for a couple years .
“ To be able to be part of a group of strong , successful women including Karen , Angie [ Smith ], Angelle [ Sampey ], Brittany , Leah [ Pruett ] and Alexis [ DeJoria ] means a lot to me ,” Enders adds . “ It also makes me proud that our sport is so diverse and offers a platform for women to not only compete on an equal playing field , but to give these guys a true run for their money . Here ’ s
PHOTOGRAPHS BY NHRA
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