One round after defeating Jonathan Gray in a semifinal match-up that saw perfect .000 lights in both lanes, Erica Enders-Stevens clinched her first career world championship because her -.002 red-light was not as bad as Jason Line’s -.011 foul in the other lane.

Enders-Stevens became the third woman in history, with Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey, to win NHRA Pro Stock championships.

One round after defeating Jonathan Gray in a semifinal match-up that saw perfect .000 lights in both lanes, Erica Enders-Stevens clinched her first career world championship because her -.002 red-light was not as bad as Jason Line’s -.011 foul in the other lane.

Enders-Stevens became the third woman in history, with Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey, to win an NHRA championship. She is the first female in drag racing history to win a Pro Stock title.

“It all boiled down to the last round at the last race of the year, with everything on the line against one of the baddest guys in the class,” Enders-Stevens said. “We were able to get it done and I give God all the glory. It was teamwork, teamwork…I say it in every interview but I mean it from the bottom of my heart.”

The win is the culmination of a lifelong pursuit for Enders-Stevens.

“I was a little kid with a big dream,” she said. “I started racing juniors when I was eight years old, moved up to Super Comp and Super Gas for five years. I thought I wanted to drive a Funny Car, so I went and got my Alcohol Funny Car license…that’s when Cagnazzi called and said, ‘Hey, come drive my Pro Stock car.’ Here we are, 10 years later.”

In the first two rounds Sunday, Enders-Stevens didn’t need to be too sharp on the tree to win the rounds. She defeated Larry Morgan with an .062-induced 6.494 at 213.47 to top Morgan’s (.031) 6.581/210.93. In the second round she had an .061 light and carded a 6.494 at 213.67 to dispatch Roger Brogdon’s (.064) 6.511/212.46.

In the semifinals, things got interesting. Jonathan Gray and Enders posted perfect reaction times, but Enders-Stevens won it on the track with a 6.494 at 213.67 to Gray’s 6.524 at 212.29.

In the final Line was too early.

“I laid up the first and second round because I knew we had such a bad hot rod,” Enders-Stevens said. “I wanted to go after it in the semis because I knew Jonathan was .019 the round before. In Pro Stock there are no electronics so I use my clutch pedal as my ‘delay box’ from bracket racing.

“I wanted to set up .010 to .012, and we went out and went .000, which was a little too close for comfort.

“In the final round it was darker than I expected, so I shallow-staged as much as I could. Fortunately Jason was more red than me. There is no way to write how on the scorecard and we were able to get it done.”

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