When the curtain dropped on Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan., Erica Enders left as a star.

The reigning NHRA Pro Stock world champion beat rival Greg Anderson in the finals at the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor on Sunday.

Enders clocked a 6.617-second time at 206.13 mph in her Elite Motorsports Chevy to defeat Anderson’s 6.636-second lap at 198.41 mph.

“Well, it's been long, and hot, and wet, and dry, ” Enders said. “It's always a challenge when you're having to get up, and then you have a break, and you're having to get out of your car, and re-get your mentality together and just try to be as strong as you can when there's a lot of distractions. And then, physically, you're not comfortable because you're just so hot and you're sweating and everything's sticky and gross. But we've faced a lot of days like this, and (Sunday) was just a great day.

“Coming in, we felt like we struggled, right? Yeah, we were No. 4 qualifier, but my car wasn't running as great as some of my teammates, and we certainly weren't running as good as the other guys. So, we knew we had our work cut out for us (Sunday). I looked up the ladder first thing this morning and it was stout, right?”

This was Enders’ 45th career Pro Stock win and second of the season as she also won in Bristol, Tenn.

Enders is now just one win from tying Angelle Sampey for most career victories by women in the NHRA. Sampey claimed all her 46 wins in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. All of Enders’ wins have come since 2012.

“The guys I have with me, they don’t ever quit, it is absolutely unbelievable, and she (Enders) is possibly the best ever for sure,” said Richard Freeman, owner of Elite Motorsports.

On Sunday, Enders defeated Chris McGaha, her Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield, No. 1 qualifier and points leader Dallas Glenn and then Anderson, the winningest driver in NHRA’s Pro Stock history.

“Chris McGaha, Aaron Stanfield, Dallas Glenn, and Greg Anderson, so, it was pretty cool that I had to battle everybody from a different team this time, except for Aaron, so that was pretty exciting for us,” Enders said. “But to park my JHG car in the winner's circle with Jason Johnson here, I didn't get to say all that in the top-end speech because one of my guys, his grandma's not doing too good, so I kind of dedicated the race to her. But SCAG and Melling and the people that support us, we obviously wouldn't be here without them. But it's always special when the guy who's writing the checks is on the property, and we were able to give him his first national-event Wally in Bristol a few races ago. So, I'm sure this one will sit proudly next to that one back in Tennessee. So, great day.”

Enders is a five-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion in 2014-15, 2019-20, and 2022. This was her second career win at Heartland Motorsports Park, which is closing at season’s end. Enders also beat Anderson in 2015 to claim the title at the facility.

“We were kind of under a little bit of a rush schedule, and changing valve springs,” Enders said. “Everything about Pro Stock is so intricate, as you know. We don't just sling parts out of boxes and bolt them together and hopefully the thing doesn't blow up. It's very precise. So, there's a lot of mistakes that can be made, and I'm fortunate to have such a great team that when my other guys were eliminated, everybody was all hands on deck for the quick turnarounds, changing valve springs and whatnot. But I'd say the most challenging part besides being physically uncomfortable is going from light to dark, and having to change, whether it be your shift points or your clutch linkage for reaction time, because everything changes when it goes from sun to dusk to dark.

“So, there's all kinds of challenges that were thrown at us (Sunday). And like always, when my guys' backs are against the wall, they perform the best. And I said it before, and I'll say it again, you just give Mark Ingersoll a couple runs, a couple opportunities, he'll pick away at it and he'll get better, and that's exactly what he did today. We improved on every round, and I'm just really grateful. I'm grateful he's in my corner and I'm glad to have the guys that I have that have my back.”

Enders acknowledged the rain and threat of rain was heavy on her mind Sunday.

“I wasn't so much concerned about the downforce as I was the rain and having them dry the track and spray it and drag it,” she said. “You don't dwell on it, but it's definitely in the back of your mind because … we don't have downforce and these things get loose really fast, and you think you're OK one second and you're upside down the next second. So, it's one of those deals that you respect it, but you don't dwell on it. You put it in the back of your head, and you roll on. So, pulling up … behind the water box, I radioed to Mark, said, ‘Is the track good? Is it safe?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely.’

“I know it's very important at night especially to keep it in the groove. She tried to move around on me a little bit, and I just did my best to keep her straight while I was trying to shift on time. I didn't see the run, but I heard Greg got pretty loose as well, so that sucks. I hate that. But a good old drag race. So, kind of a fun deal on Friday when he was in the No. 1 qualifying position, we had some fun banter down there, and saying, ‘They can't count us out yet.’ Everybody wants to focus on everybody else and forget about Erica and Greg but look who posted up one and two (Sunday night).”

“I think I heard (announcer Alan) Reinhart or somebody say that the Countdown starts here for us and Team Elite, and that's certainly something that we talked about,” Enders said. “We don't dwell on the points because they'll count themselves, and you stand where you stand at the end. But these three races, including Topeka, Brainerd, and Indy, set the tone for what position we go into the Countdown. And just prior to Bristol, I was 15th in points after a really crappy start to the season, and we clawed our way up to six and I think we made up some pretty great ground. So, I said on the airplane over here that our goal was to go in the Countdown in the No. 2 slot. Tall order, but we can do it.”

Enders moved to fifth in the points standing, but she is only 52 points behind second-place Matt Hartford.

“I'm proud of my guys. They work so hard in the engine shop,” Enders said. “They work so hard on the race car. There are so many things, so many parts and pieces that go into this, aside from horsepower, chassis setup, shocks, all of the things. But being able to turn the beacon on because I did my job every once in a while, is pretty nice. I'll tell you the most significant round — not taking from any of the others — was winning the semifinals against Dallas. They gave him the nickname after one year of racing, ‘Double-Oh Dallas.' And we were ‘Double-Oh EE’ way before he even arrived, so we had to show him up a little bit and I was glad to be 009 against him and turn that win light on. That was super important. But my crew chief said, ‘This is the race that's going to determine the race. So, you win here, we're winning this whole thing.’ So, I was proud.”

Winning the final race in Topeka was bittersweet for Enders, who has plenty of memories made at the facility.

“We don't ever want to shut them down, but definitely a great position to be in to win the final one,” she said. “I said up there that I'll put this Wally next to the last Houston Wally. Denver was definitely one I wanted to check off the list, and what a tremendous final event we had there. Had a semifinal finish in the 500-inch and a final round in Mountain Motor. So, we gave it our all, but we didn't get it done. But I'm super stoked to have done it here at Heartland Park. This place, we've been coming here since I raced Junior Dragsters and sportsman, so it's been quite a long time in our family history; forever. So, sad again to see it go, but excited for the future. All things look great to head down the road towards Kansas City, and we'll see what she brings us.”