ERICA ENDERS Says She’s Fallen Out of Love With Funny Cars

April 7, 2025

by Susan Wade // from competitionplus.com

GRRL! SUMMARY:

ERICA ENDERS, the most successful woman in motorsports history with 49 NHRA wins and six Pro Stock titles, has officially fallen out of love with Funny Cars despite originally dreaming of wrestling nitro-powered machines. She now describes them bluntly: “They’re noisy. They stink. They blow up,” preferring her clean Pro Stock Camaro that “rides like a Cadillac.” Her career pivot came accidentally during a 2004 interview when she mentioned Pro Stock interest while working with a Nitro Funny Car team, leading to her legendary partnership with Elite Motorsports.
Elite team owner Richard Freeman’s rumored Top Fuel equipment purchase for ENDERS sparked family phone calls and concern, but she clarifies she’s “not leaving Pro Stock to go race nitro.” The potential dual-category plan revealed interesting NHRA policy discussions about allowing drivers to compete in multiple classes at single events, with the sanctioning body willing to accommodate scheduling for Pro Stock and Top Fuel combinations but not back-to-back classes like Funny Car and Pro Stock.
Despite getting fitted for a Top Fuel car and being open to the challenge, ENDERS and Freeman have shelved nitro plans for now after realistic cost discussions. She remains passionate about Pro Stock’s technical demands, calling it “a real driver’s class” where “you swap feet and pull levers,” and takes pride in mentoring rising talent at Elite including the Stanfields, Coughlins, and Cuadra brothers while maintaining her competitive edge to “rip their throats out.”