Showing posts with label Erica Enders Stevens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Erica Enders Stevens. Show all posts

January 6, 2015

Top 5 Passes in 2014

As you may have noticed, I have yet to post the best of drag racing for 2014. So without further ado, find below the top five runs of the 2014 North American drag racing season, as ranked by Dragzine.com in their own "The Top 10, Biggest, Baddest runs of 2014. Period".

1. Door car slams a 5.46 et on the board:
On a blazing-hot late summer night in St. Louis at the Street Car Super Nationals at the Arch, Turky al Zafiri, aka "Scarface" blew away the recordbooks by laying down a 5.461 at 272.50 mph in the quickest  side-by-side door car race against Frankie "The Madman" Taylor, who ran a 5.476 at 263.77 mph himself in the final round of the Outlaw Pro Mod class. To watch the video, click here.

2. Small-tire races into the record books:
Of course, great conditions always bring with it possible record setting runs, which was the case at the Radial Fest in Huntsville. Brad Edwards set a 3.99 with his stock suspension Mustang. To watch the video, click here.

3. Pair of perfect lights in side-by-side race:
In the race for the NHRA Pro Stock championship last year, and for the first time on NHRA professional drag racing history (60+ years), two drivers recorded side-by-side perfect triple-zero reaction times. The drivers were none other than 2014 NHRA Pro Stock champ Erica Enders-Stevens and Jonathan Gray. Important mention is that Erica is the first woman to win this Championship. To watch the video, click here.

4. Nitrous car goes 5.77
In Atlanta, Ricky Smith ran in the first round of eliminations a 5.778 at 250 mph, making it not only the quickest 1/4 mile pass ever by a nitrous oxide-injected door car, but the second quickest ever by a Pro Modified. The quickest run stands at 5.772 (by Melanie Troxel in 2011)

5. 1/4 mile in 6.127 on drag radials:
Roger Holder's twin turbo Camaro put down a staggering 6.127-second pass at 244.29 mph in Las Vegas, on DRAG RADIALS! To watch the video, click here. Holder is one of the west coast's preeminent radial tire racers.

Source: Dragzine
video credit: Paul Fercho, Urban Hillbilly.

July 10, 2014

The racing weekend that was - Wk 27

In Formula One, the British GP at Silverstone:
Finally, Lewis has the weekend he has been so desperately searching. He wins his home race slashing the championship gap to four points while championship leader and teammate Nico Rosberg retires with gearbox failure.

aftermath of Raikonnen's excursion
There was an incredible accident at the start of the race which caused the race to be temporarily red flagged. Ferrari's Kimi Raikonnen ran wide at Aintree but as he rejoined [with WOT] a little bump on the grass unsettled the car and sent the car fish-tailing into the Armco, collecting William's driver Felipe Massa in the process.

Though Rosberg had led from pole, around mid-race he suffered gearbox trouble and was forced to retire. Too bad for the spectators, for Hamilton was closing in fast and this could have turned out in another epic duel. The Fin Valtteri Bottas racing for Sir Frank Williams rose through the field from 14th on the grid to P2 for the second consecutive time, while Daniel Ricciardo finished P3 as he held of a charging Jenson Button.

Vettel-Alonso duel 
The best battle of the race was between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. The Red Bull of Vettel was clearly quicker than the Ferrari and kept hustling the Spaniard, who instructed his team over the radio to launch a complaint to race officials accusing the reigning world champion of being over-aggressive. Though Alonso defended his position excellently, he could not hold off Vettel when he got his nose alongside out of Woodcote and after the pair ran inches apart towards Copse, Alonso had to yield to Vettel. Click here to see an analysis of the duel.

Bottas celebrating on the podium
Formula One standings are as follows:
1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes, 165 points,
2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes, 161
3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull, 98
4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari, 87
5. Valtteri Bottas - Williams, 72

The next race is scheduled for July 20 and will be run at Hockenheim, Germany.


In NHRA, at Norwalk, Ohio:
After a long drought, Funny car legend John Force made it to the Funny car finals and had to race long time rival Ron Capps. But after getting to the final round, the old man wasn't going to go down without a fight. In a thrilling side-by-side drag race John Force collected his first Norwalk win and his 140th career win by running a 4.113 at 317.27 mph to Capps' losing 4.134.

"It was special for me," said John Force. "I've come to this track for decades......we raced some great kids: [Ron] Capps, Cruz [Pedregon], [Tim] Wilkerson, Chad Head."

In Top Fuel, a dominant Antron Brown racing for Don Schumacher racing (DSR) collected his 5th Wally of the season and second in a row by beating his team mate Tony Schumacher in the finals.

In Pro Stock, though it might come as a surprise to some to see women excel in this male dominated sport, current points leader Erica Enders-Stevens claimed her fourth victory of 2014 and the tenth of her career by beating her old crew chief Dave Connolly in the final round. Though I always root for our friend Dave, on Sunday he just didn't have the horsepower to beat the Rick Jones built Elite Motorsports Chevy Camaro. This is becoming an all too familiar sight at many NHRA winner's circle, and the guys are not liking it, especially Summit racer Greg Anderson.


In Pro Stock bike, Matt Hines claimed his third win of the season by beating Hector Arana Sr. The Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson bikes are starting to come around.

The next race is on July 18-20 and marks the beginning of the Western Swing, which is a grueling period for NHRA drag racers. These are back-to-back races with almost no time to have parts and support material hauled in from the team's headquarters.  Always a very interesting period in the season.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Jalopnik
Photo credit: Skysports, Dailymail.co.uk, NHRA, Dragstory,

June 3, 2014

The racing weekend that was - Wk 22

Cruz's record setting run
NHRA's Englishtown, New Jersey, is located about 20 miles south of Newark Int'l Airport and is one of the original seven national events. It is a race steeped in legend and it would surely not disappoint, especially since the track is just 20 ft above sea level which means the engines will be making maximum horsepower!

In Top Fuel, Australian rookie sensation Richie Crampton making his ninth career starts beat points leader Doug Kalitta to the delight of the crowd. "This is all surreal right now," Crampton said. "I'm really just living the dream. I know that sounds cliche, but I'm just lucky to be in the position I'm at in my personal life and career."

In Funny Car, two-time world champion Cruz Pedregon won over Dell Worsham. This is Cruz's first win this season and he was in the final of the last race but lost to Courtney Force.

Matusek's pro mod barely avoids sand trap
In Pro Stock, Jeg Coughlin won over Greg Anderson as the latter had to get out of the throttle as he encountered excessive wheel spin when in second gear.
During the day the sun beat down on the track making this too hot and so very slippery. I have never seen so many pedal fests, more than half the pro stock field had problems. Quite a few drivers, amongst them Anderson, were pretty bad at it, especially since the Liberty gearbox jumps into neutral as soon as you let go of the shifter handle (well, except when in fifth). Just to illustrate the difficult track conditions, Coughlin borrowed the rear tires of Allen Johnson (who had made a decent pass earlier but lost) because he feared his own tires would not get him down the track.

In Pro Stock bike the two Harley's were tough to beat and though there were some competitors questioning the size of their intake scoops, as being to small, Andrew Hines won over teammate  Eddie Krawiec in the all Vance & Hines Screaming Eagle final.

Erica's record 215 mph time slip
Talking about records, in Funny car, Cruz Pedregon laid down a national record elapsed time of 3.959 seconds at 310.48 mph during night time qualifying. In Pro Stock, Erica Enders-Stevens posted a national record top speed of 215.55 mph during a 6.473 second qualifying run (60' of 0.990) in her Elite Motorsports Camaro.

To see a short video on the finals, please click here. For the one of Steve Matusek parallel parking his car just at the sand trap, click here.

Thanks for reading.

Source: NHRA
Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas, Elite Motorsports

May 29, 2014

Courtney just the tip of the iceberg

Brittany and Courtney
Last Sunday the 100th pro win by a woman racing in NHRA was recorded at the Kansas Nationals,when Courtney Force beat Cruz Pedregon in the funny car finals. Both Courtney and sister Brittany qualified #1 in their classes, also a first.

Even though Courtney had some difficulties at the starting line, she did manage to stay calm and proceeded to outrun Cruz to the 1,000 ft mark. And boy, from all the siblings, she looks the most like her father John. Gives an interview like him too. To see for yourself, click here.

Though Courtney's win is important, I'd like to put it in the proper perspective for there are many who came before her who traveled a much tougher road to get to a win. Let alone a couple.

Below you will find those on who's shoulders Courtney stood last Sunday:

SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY, 3 time NHRA Top Fuel champion (1977,1980 and 1982) and an American pioneer is professional auto racing. She won a total of 18 NHRA National events. Click here for the Biography Channel video on Shirley.
Angelle Sampey

ANGELLE SAMPEY, 3 time NHRA Pro Stock bike champion (2000-2002) and 45 top-qualifiers and 41 event victories (all NHRA). Also, Angelle is considered the winning-est female in professional motorsports history.

ERICA ENDERS STEVENS: 8 NHRA Pro Stock wins and 6 top-qualifiers.

KAREN STOFFER: 6 NHRA Pro Stock bike wins and 2 top-qualifiers.

MELANIE TROXEL: 4 NHRA Top Fuel wins, 1 NHRA Funny car win in Funny car , and a handful of top-qualifier positions.

ASHLEY FORCE HOOD: 2 NHRA Funny car wins and 5 top-qualifiers.

There are more female winners in the pro categories in NHRA but I just highlighted the most famous ones. For more on women in drag racing on FulTrot, click here and here for NHRA latest video on this milestone through the eyes of Leah Pruet.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Wikipedia, NHRA.
Video credit: NHRA, Biography (people).