Six-time NHRA Pro Stock driver Erica Enders remembers the struggle, and it was real. It's why motorsports' winningest female driver has a soft spot in her heart for the up-and-coming drivers in the class who do all the right things but come up short at the finish line or the timing system. 

This tendency was on full display in qualifying when she went to the top of the qualifying ladder on Friday and even more so on Sunday when she clinched her first career NHRA Gatornationals victory, one of two races she had failed to win in her storied career. 

There likely has never been a more reluctant No. 1 or winner than Enders in Gainesville. Even though she needed this one to get the gator-sized monkey off her back, she wouldn't have been the least disappointed in finishing runner-up to Cristian Cuadra. 

"That's what I said in the trailer. I'm like, 'Man, my heart wants him to win, and the selfish side of me, I want to win because we've never won here, and we've been just chomping at the bit to finally get it done," Enders said. "And we were in the finals early on in my career against Tom Martino. And we shook, we shook so bad, we broke battery mounts, bell housing, it was rough. Tom obviously won there, but then in three final rounds here and finally freaking got it done."

It's been that kind of a ride, with a 2023 first-round loss when her car wouldn't start, and that expereience drove the passion to win the event in dominating fashion. And, then came Cuadra... and all of a sudden, second place wouldn't have been so bad. 

"We joked and talked on Thursday, and I'm like, 'Hey, let's meet in the finals; how cool would that be?" Enders recalled. "He's like, 'Oh yes, it would be so cool." 

Then they finished one and two in qualifying, a position established on Friday, and all of a sudden the take no prisoners Enders regretted doing what had become her modus operandi for the last decade.

"We joked around about, 'Let him have number one,'" Enders said during Friday's end-of-day press conference. Whatever, but to have him make those two consistent runs, you again helping train him and all of that. You're the driver; you're sitting here, but I don't think people understand the role that you have in the success of that team."

The one-two qualifying order set them up for race day. The moment before they left the pits for the staging lanes and the start of eliminations, the champion knew Sunday could be a magical day. 

"He had a different look in his eye [Sunday], and I said, 'You're going to get this done," Enders said. "And when it was him and I in the finals and my guy's radio, they weren't even excited on the radio. It's hard to get up when it's your guy in the other lane. But taking the victory with him shaking like that, that right lane was really tricky and I was listening to them discuss it on the starting line.

"The bottom line is we had two Elite Motorsports cars in the final round. And those [Cuadra] boys are going to be a force to be reckoned with, I promise.

And there was all kinds of sentimentality flowing in Gainesville besides her Cuadra conundrum.

Sunday's win for Enders was the 49th of her career and the No. 48 since entering professional drag racing in 2005. Those numbers were fine for her, but other details, such as Elite Motorsports having all nine entered cars make full pulls on Friday's two sessions, was a stat she wanted to publicize more. 

"It just goes to show you if you keep setting your goals and you keep working hard, you can accomplish them," Enders said. "Pro Stock's really tough and I was stoked on Friday, like Q1, all nine of our cars went A to B. That sounds like, 'Well y'all went down the track, who cares?" 

"But that's a very tough task, and getting all nine of our Elite Motorsports cars in the show was pretty significant. I was proud of that. That started the weekend off on the right foot."

In the opening round, Enders faced first-time Pro Stock racer Kelley Murphy, who works outside of the cockpit with Elite Motorsports and aspires to be a Pro Stock driver. 

She was sentimental about Murphy but apparently not as much as Cuadra, and one can thank Jerry Tucker for that. 

Last year, when Enders's car broke and she couldn't run the first round, she forfeited it, and according to her, Tucker didn't let her forget it. 

"All season long, I got to hear about how he beat the world champ first round," Enders added. 

Enders had empathy for Murphy before the event ever began, and even more so once she knew they would meet in eliminations. There were many lean seasons for her between racing for Victor Cagnazzi and Richard Freeman. They were also learning opportunities.  

"I'm really proud of Kelley and the progress that he's made, and I take a lot of pride in him," Enders said. "He is so passionate about this, and he puts all of his hard work into it. He was joking around in the lounge up there before we came up here that if he won [Sunday], his winnings are going back into the pot to buy another race. So he's hooked, for sure, but to be able to race him is definitely going to be an honor. 

"We joked about it at the shop [earlier] this week. If we race each other in the finals, maybe my car wouldn't start again, and we could get him a wally. But it doesn't matter who's in the other lane. I got to put my head down, put my blinders on, and do my own thing."

Enders now has a perfect record of eight round wins heading into Pomona, with a win at the PRO Superstar Shootout and now Gainesville.  

"I definitely think it was a way to start our season off on the right foot, regardless of if it counted or not, it was a huge morale boost for our shop," Enders said. "The guys worked so hard in the off-season; everybody wants to talk about this off-season. None of us took vacations this year. We had to go to work, and those guys are there early in the morning, and they're the last to leave, and they're just trying to find horsepower because we have some tough competition out there.

If I can just roll out there every time and be mentally strong, that's more challenging said than done. We just have to have that positive attitude, know what we're capable of, and believe that nobody can do it better. I think the sky is the limit for our group."