Erica Enders-Stevens drove her Pro Stock Chevy Camaro to victory Sunday in the NHRA SpringNationals, notching her second win of the season and the 99th by a woman in the history of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Immediately following Enders-Stevens’ win, Antron Brown in Top Fuel and Robert Hight in Funny Car each raced to their third victories of the season at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, TX, near Houston.
Enders-Stevens faced Allen Johnson in the Pro Stock final, winning on a holeshot with a 6.594-second pass at 210.60 miles per hour. Johnson, the 2012 Pro Stock world champion, ran a 6.588 at 210.28. Even though Johnson ran the faster elapsed time, Enders-Stevens’ superior reaction time enabled her to keep her slim lead the whole race.
“My team’s been really awesome,” Enders-Stevens said. “I’ve had a really consistent race car. That’s what it takes Sundays, consistency. We had to make last second transmission change and go through the gears to make sure everything was right.”
Hight’s Ford Mustang Funny Car is the hottest car in the Mello Yello Drag Racing series. Sunday was his fifth straight final. Hight ran a 4.055 at 314.90 to defeat Jack Beckman, who was appearing in his first final of the season. With the win, Hight expands his points lead to 122 over John Force Racing owner and teammate John Force.
In Top Fuel, Brown notched his second straight win of the season with a 3.793 pass at 317.72 over Khalid alBalooshi. Brown took over the Top Fuel points lead from Doug Kalitta and leaves Houston with a 37-point advantage. Brown has reached seven of the last 10 finals dating back to last season, winning five of them.
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series now heads to Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, GA for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, May 16-18. Sunday’s race was the sixth of 24 in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Pro Stock Championship Point Standings
1. Erica Enders-Stevens 554 2. Allen Johnson 477 3. Jason Line 437 4. Vincent Nobile 414 5. Shane Gray 390
Funny Car Championship Point Standings
1. Robert Hight 609 2. John Force 487 3. Alexis DeJoria 431 4. Del Worsham 361 5. Ron Capps 356
Top Fuel Championship Point Standings
1. Antron Brown 580 2. Doug Kalitta 543 3. Steve Torrence 428 4. Shawn Langdon 408 5. Khalid alBalooshi 381
The NHRA and Drag Race Central contributed to this report.
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