PRO STOCK

(Don Figler photo)

Erica Enders-Stevens added another chapter to her memory book Sunday, winning the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park in spectacular fashion with a holeshot victory over Pro Stock points leader Mike Edwards.

"I love St. Louis," said Enders-Stevens, who also won this race last year. "I'm glad to be back. It's a good place for me."

Enders-Stevens has raced at Gateway since 2001 but never won here as an amateur. But in 2012, Enders-Stevens finally broke through, beating eventual series champion Allen Johnson on a holeshot to secure her fourth victory of the season. 

"This is the place where I signed my deal with Victor Cagnazzi in 2004 to start driving for him," Enders-Stevens said. "Then we won last year. This track holds a lot of fond memories for me. Now here we are back in the winner's circle. I love coming here, the fans are great and the facility is awesome."

Enders-Stevens left on Edwards with a .021-second reaction time, and her pass of 6.540 seconds at 211.23 mph was enough to hold off Edwards' charging 6.532-second run at 212.36 mph.

Sunday's victory was her second of the season and sixth of her career, tying her with husband Richie Stevens. She's also tied with Karen Stoffer and trails only Angelle Sampey and Shirley Muldowney as the female with the most NHRA victories.

Plus, Enders-Stevens moved up two spots to fourth in the Pro Stock standings, now trailing Edwards by just 60 points with three races remaining in the Countdown to the Championship.

(Jeff Burk photo)

Jeg Coughlin Jr. and the JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger held the Pro Stock championship lead for one round Sunday, but a quarterfinal-round loss at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals helped knock him back to second place with three races left to go in the season.

"It's a great effort," Coughlin said. "We're halfway through this Countdown, and we're not going to leave here too far out of the points lead, so we'll refocus.

"I know the guys are going to work on things, and we're going to have to continue to dig deeper and find that comfortable spot as drivers, too."

Coughlin got the points lead when he opened the day with a win over Greg Stanfield while then-points leader Jason Line lost in the first round to Mike Edwards. But then Greg Anderson beat Coughlin in the second round, which opened the door for Edwards, who made it to the final, to take the lead from Coughlin.

In the first round, Coughlin turned in a solid lap as Stanfield pushed the tree too hard and went red by -.007 seconds. Coughlin had a .059 second reaction time and cruised down for a pass of 6.541 seconds at 211.39 mph.

Anderson got lane choice over Coughlin in the second round and was off the line first with a .005-second reaction time to Coughlin's .039. Anderson needed that starting line advantage to win on a holeshot, as his 6.571 at 210.47 mph was slower than Coughlin's lap of 6.539 at 210.57 mph. The edge at the start was enough to give Anderson a win by less than a foot at the finish line.