A different week – the same Erica Enders.

Enders’ drive for her fifth Pro Stock world championship keeps picking up steam.

Enders arrived at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Friday in Norwalk, Ohio, first in the points standings and she has showed why so far this weekend.

Enders, who drives a Camaro for Elite Motorsports, captured the No. 1 qualifying spot with her 6.537-second elapsed time at 210.11 mph Friday.

“After the first session, I let the clutch out and then tried to blow the back window out of it,” said Enders, who has four wins this season. “The hook left on me, so we knew we had to get that under control.  The point being, I knew I had to get the race car down the racetrack because for the second session, we knew it was going to be a lot cooler where we were going to be in the good lane, which is the left lane. So, I wanted to give my crew the best opportunity that we could. We were fifth out, and I knew we were on a great run. And when you get through low gear like that, you can definitely feel when you have a good 60-foot time. When I kept that 1-2 shift, I felt like we were going to crush it, and before the run, I thought maybe we might go 55, and my guys came on the radio and said we were going 53. So, it was really an awesome time.”

This is Enders 25th career top Pro Stock qualifying spot and her second of the season as she was also No. 1 in Pomona, Calif.

“The summer's always super challenging,” Enders said. “But that's when the really great crew chiefs will always bring in stuff. We've definitely worked hard on our hot racetrack program.

“Anyway, we definitely worked on our hot racetrack program in years past. So, as I was saying, that's when really great crew chiefs with a lot of experience and a lot of data, a lot of logbooks that we can dig back through, that's when they really come in handy. And as a driver, I just have to do my best in the race car when the conditions get really crazy. So, I feel very confident in our summer setup, and as it cools off, our race cars obviously run really good in those temperatures as well. But it will be a battle throughout the summer, kind of a tuner's race, so I have the best guys in the world that stand behind me, so I'm very confident.”

Enders took a moment to talk about what she likes about competing in Norwalk.

“I love racing here in Norwalk, although I definitely miss the ice cream up here,” Enders said. “I said when we qualified on the pole at least we get some ice cream. But no, the Bader family does a great job promoting this event, from the time you pull in the gate with the people that are checking tickets, to the people that deliver ice and pick up trash, everybody's got a smile on their face, and you can tell that they enjoy their job. And then, not to mention, winning here on Sunday, you get that prestigious billet ice cream scoop. So, we were able to do that last year. We definitely have a tall order this year, but we're going to do our best.”