Enders-Stevens Wins $50,000 Pro Stock K&N Horsepower Challenge

In the exclusive eight-car field as an alternate, Erica Enders-Stevens made the most of her good fortunes, racing to victory on Saturday in the K&N Horsepower Challenge at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

At the controls of her Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, Enders-Stevens downed her former crew chief, Gray Motorsports driver Dave Connolly — who made his way into the field as the winner of the NHRA’s fan vote ‘wild card’ — in the final round, running 6.64 at 208.39 MPH as Connolly shook the tires early and pushed in the clutch, leaving him only to watch as Enders-Stevens cruised to the $50,000 winners payday.

With Connolly helping to call the shots, Enders-Stevens was runner-up to Allen Johnson in the K&N Horsepower Challenge a year ago, driving for Cagnazzi Racing.

Enders-Stevens was entered into the field as an alternate in the No. 3 position on the ladder for Mike Edwards, who is not competing in the factory hot rod division in 2014, pairing her with V Gaines in the opening stanza. There, she parlayed a quicker-leaving .037 reaction time and a 6.65 on the track into a win to advance to the semifinals, where she met up with Jeg Coughlin and his JEG’S Dodge Dart. Enders-Stevens left first on the always-quick Coughlin in their matchup, going .016 on the tree and never looking back on her way to a 6.65 to 6.64 holeshot victory.

“We’ve had a great hot rod all year and it really came together for us two weeks ago in Gainesville,” said Enders-Stevens. “We set the national record but lost in the final round on a holeshot, so it was great to give something back to my guys.”