Some of the fastest drivers are in Ennis this weekend for the Texas Stampede of Speed. Competitors are racing for points to win the 2024 National Hot Rod Association Championship.
The winningest pro female driver in motorsports history and Houston native Erica Enders will be on the drag strip. She earned that title last year at Texas Motorplex in Ennis racing down the quarter-mile drag strip to the finish line in 6.469 at 211.55mph.
"No matter how many times we win, we're always chasing the next one," Enders said in a recent visit to NBC5.
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Enders has been drag racing since the age of eight, supported and encouraged by her dad who raced, too. Her success and that of her younger sister inspired the 2003 Disney original movie Right on Track.
"When I'm at my pit signing autographs, I recognize that spark in their eye that I had," she said. "Life as a role model is like being in a fishbowl. You have to watch what you say, and what you do. And you want to do it right. Throughout my career, I've tried to do it right."
Enders has sped her way to title after title including 49 victories, and six pro-stock championships in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023. She was the first female to win a championship in Pro Stock racing in 2014, the first female to win an NHRA Pro Stock race in 2012, and at age 17 was named the 2000 NHRA Rookie of the Year at age 17. She's also a 2025 Texas Sports Hall of Fame nominee.
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"There were a lot that didn't want to see us do well, and I've made it my sole goal to prove them wrong. There are way more valleys than peaks. I've been at this 20 years and it took seven years and seven final rounds to finally get my first win as a pro and we became the first female every step of the way in NRHA pro stock racing," she said.
Meet Enders and watch her compete at the Texas National Hot Rod Association Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis October 11 - 13.
