Erica Enders has been drag racing since she was a child. When she turned 8 she started racing in a junior league and then went on to race professionally with the NHRA. “I drove Junior for 9 years and then I moved up to the sportsman ranks and I drove those types of cars for 5 years,” said Erica. “Then in 2004, I got hired to drive Pro Stock, which is the professional category of NHRA drag racing, so, for the last 19 years I’ve been racing Pro Stock.”
Enders and her sister, Courtney Enders, both grew up around racing. Their father, Gregg Enders was also a race car driver, so it's no surprise that it rubbed off on his daughters. “Our dad raced his whole life, so we grew up around it,” said Erica. “Courtney and I both started racing in the Junior Drag Racing League, which back then was for kids between the ages of 8 and 17, since then the NHRA has lowered the starting age to 5.”
Erica gives credit to her father for her success. He’s the reason she got into drag racing and the reason she has stuck with it for all of these years. “My dad taught my sister and I everything we know. He was always saying things like ‘dig deep’ and ‘play with all of the heart that you have’ and ‘gender has no role’,” said Erica. “He always instilled a positive mindset in us and that’s always been a huge benefit and I definitely attribute my success to having him in my corner.”
Erica also made it clear just how integral her sister has been in her success. “To this day, Courtney is still on the road with me and she may not be in the driver’s seat anymore but she’s such an essential part of the team,” said Erica. “It’s awesome that she’s able to be there with me every week.”
When Enders first started racing, she was the odd girl out. There weren’t many other girls who were participating in racing as it was a male dominated sport. “There weren’t many other girls when we first started out,” said Erica. “Back then there were no females but now, the stats for the junior drag racing league show that over 50% of the competitors are female.” That may be the case for the junior drag racing league, but the same cannot be said for professional drag racing. Erica has been the only woman in Pro Stock for many years. “I was the only girl in Pro Stock for 18 years but there’s a new girl that came out this year and she’s trying to drive,” said Erica. “But I’m the only one in Pro Stock. There’s two women in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car.”
Drag racing has always been a male dominated sport and while there have been improvements and progress, it is still a male dominated sport. Erica claims that women have to work twice as hard just to get into a position to even begin making a name for themselves. “On the negative side of things you have people saying that girls aren’t strong enough or smart enough to do drag racing,” said Erica. “So, you have to work your way up to ground zero before you can even start proving yourself.” Even though she faces challenges that come with being a woman in a male dominated sport, Erica keeps racing forward and continues to prove any negative people wrong. “Dealing with judgment is definitely a challenge and it’s unfortunate but on the other side, there are so many positives. You just have to put blinders on.”
Erica is a positive role model for young girls who are thinking of entering not just drag racing, but any male dominated sport. She serves as proof that if you put your mind to something, you can succeed, no matter what obstacles are thrown in your way. Erica wants any young girl or woman out there to know, “Anything is possible, anything you set your mind to, and the only thing that's stopping you is you. Just do your best to surround yourself with people that really believe in you and support you and you’ll be just fine.”