TOP OF PRO STOCK

With five championships in the past nine years, Erica Enders dominates the NHRA's Pro Stock category. What is her recipe for success?

Is Erica Enders the best driver in the history of NHRA Pro Stock racing? You can decide for yourself, but there is mounting evidence to support her case.

Before his untimely death in 2017, drag racing legend Bob Glidden publicly stated that Erica Enders was the best driver in the history of the Pro Stock class. Glidden was a 10-time world champion and an 85-time national event winner who wasn't the least bit hesitant to freely offer an opinion. Glidden certainly knew a thing or two about Pro Stock, but was he correct? Is Erica indeed the best driver the Pro Stock class has ever seen?

Better than Lee Shepherd? Better than Jeg Coughlin? Better than Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, Ronnie Sox, Warren Johnson, Greg Anderson, or even Glidden himself? Now, as Enders celebrates her fifth NHRA world championship in the last nine years, it's far easier to make the case that she could indeed be the best driver the Pro Stock class has ever seen. At the very least, it's hard to argue that she doesn't belong on the Mount Rushmore of Factory Hot Rod racing.

For her part, Enders isn't one to accept praise or criticism very easily, so she's not easily persuaded to jump headlong into the debate.