RELATED ARTICLE - REMEMBERING "BIG MIKE" AIELLO

Current and four-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders is the 2022 recipient of the Mike Aiello Award.

CompetitionPlus.com owner and publisher Bobby Bennett made the surprise presentation at the close of qualifying Saturday during the NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex at Ennis, near Dallas.

The honor, commonly referred to as “The Spirit of Drag Racing Award,” recognizes someone who has persevered and remained positive in spite of hardship.

Aiello spent his final years confined to a wheelchair after a workplace injury. Despite physical hardship and severe mobility limitations, he not only attended drag races but made dozens of friends among racers, crew members, and media with his positive outlook and unselfish behavior. Aiello passed away December 29, 2006, at age 39, at Santa Monica, California.

Enders’ career began at Houston 31 years ago at age eight as a Jr. Dragster competitor and has traveled through the Super Gas, Pro Stock, Super Comp, Factory Stock Showdown, Stock, Competition Eliminator, and Pro Modified classes. She and sister Courtney inspired the 2003 Disney movie “Right On Track.”

Enders has made her biggest mark in the Pro Stock class 

She owns the NHRA Pro Stock’s fastest speed, a 215.55-mph clocking at Englishtown, N.J., that has held up since 2014. She has 41 “Wally” trophies. She is the only woman to earn Pro Stock championships, races, and bonus events. And she has matched both class icons Anderson and the late Lee Shepherd with four series crowns.

Enders passed drag-racing icon Shirley Muldowney (Top Fuel) and Pro Stock Motorcycle trailblazer and 46-time winner Angelle Sampey for the most championships among NHRA women.

“It’s pretty awesome to join the winningest female, Angelle, and then of course, Shirley, who’s one of my heroes, paved the way for all of the girls nowadays and a tough woman who has offered a lot of solid advice for me,” Enders said.

“It’s a goal I set as a child, that I wanted to be the best race-car driver on the planet, not just female. I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near done yet,” Enders said.

Her career also has had its roadblocks and speed bumps: short-lived sponsorship deals, the occasional run-in with an on-track rival, the heartbreak of a broken car at the starting line in the final round, losing close races, red-lighting, and being tricked by malfunctioning electronics telling her she won when she didn’t. The business-management and marketing major from Texas A&M has learned lessons about corporate cunning that has made posting stellar reaction times and hitting shift points seem easy.

“People on the outside don’t understand necessarily what it takes and don’t necessarily understand what it takes from you, either,” she said.

Those experiences only have made her stronger.

“I believe that our ability to persevere through any circumstance is what makes us great,” Enders said of her Elite Performance team with whom she has registered all four championships. “No matter what the world, the NHRA, our competitors, or our haters throw at us, we find a way to dig deep and play with all the heart we have. Individually we all have strengths, but together we are unstoppable. I believe and trust in this team with everything that I have. They are the reason why I am here. For all the time my guys sacrifice from being with their kids and their wives, it means the world to me. I’m glad that we did this together as a family.

“Our fearless leader, Richard Freeman, organized the most perfect group of people. We crawled our way to the top, earning every bonus point, every qualifying position, every round win, every national event win and every world championship. We did it with our backs against the wall, and we did it together. That's what makes our team special. It’s what makes us ‘Elite,’” she said. 

Her 2019 title, she said that November day, “means a lot because of the valleys that we’ve been through. It was a challenge for us. On a personal level, I have struggled. I’ve struggled mentally in the race car. I’ve struggled in my personal life. It’s just an awesome feeling to be back on top.”

Winning amid so many variables is a roller coaster of moods, Enders said.

“There’s a lot of emotion that plays into it. To give your whole life to something from the time I was eight years old – and the things my dad and mom sacrificed to allow my sister and me to do what we want for a living and chase our dreams, sacrificing their own . . . It’s been a really long road, and it’s not easy at all. There have been way more valleys than peaks. I talk about it all the time, but I feel that story is so important. You preserve, and you never give up,” she said.

“There are so many people who stab you in the back and pull the rug out from underneath you along the way. And it has nothing to do with gender. It’s how this world works. It’s very cutthroat, and it’s very challenging, honestly, to be a part of it,” Enders, who turned 39 Oct. 8, said. “But I love what I do, and I love the guys I get to do it with every week. So I’m honored to be a champion and represent a sport I love, that I’m so passionate about, and have given [nearly 30] years of my life.”

She credits her achievements to “my dad [Gregg Enders], the Good Lord above, Richard Freeman . . . The key to this program is the people who stand behind it, starting with Richard Freeman but also Rick Jones, Mark Ingersoll, Rickie Jones. All these guys jump on deck and help me so much. Most importantly, they believe in me. That gives me all the confidence in the world.”

Enders joins a prestigious list of Mike Aiello Award recipients. Crew chief John Medlen received the inaugural Mike Aiello Award in 2007, followed by Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson (2008), Pro Stock’s Mike Edwards (2009), International Hot Rod Association racer and journalist Michael Beard (2010), NHRA Funny Car racer Jack Beckman (2011), and former IHRA President Aaron Polburn (2012). Top Fuel racer Antron Brown and Top Alcohol Dragster’s Shawn Cowie shared the 2013 honor. Steve Johnson was honored in 2014, Don Schumacher in 2015, Leah Pruett in 2016, brothers Bobby and Dom Lagana in 2017, Top Fuel’s Terry McMillen in 2018, and multi-class veteran Rickie Smith in 2019. Competition Plus did not present the award in 2020, but last year Steve Torrence was the most recent recipient.