(Ron Lewis photo)

PRO STOCK

Elite Motorsports driver Erica Enders-Stevens turned in another brilliant driving performance to continue her run of success at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, winning the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals on Sunday to secure a second consecutive double-up at The Strip.

Enders-Stevens also won the K&N Horsepower Challenge on Saturday, completing the Challenge/national-event sweep for the second year in a row. The sweep earned Elite Motorsports a $25,000 bonus to go with the $50,000 earned from winning the Challenge.

The Las Vegas winning streak has reached 18 round-wins, including last fall's national event.

"I guess we can start saying Vegas is our lucky track," Enders-Stevens said. "Winning is very challenging, and to be able to do it at both Vegas races last year and then come back here and do it again shows what we're capable of. But it's also very surreal. There are so many tough competitors out there, and the bar has really been raised. I'm just proud of my team.

"It's certainly a high-pressure situation, but my guys thrive on it. They perform very well under it, and I'm so proud of them."

Sunday, though, Enders-Stevens had to undergo her own troubles. Flu-like symptoms, including a sore throat and fever, left her dehydrated before the race, and she took intravenous fluids before the first round. She took another IV later in the day.

"I just really had to focus on the mental side of it," Enders-Stevens said. "Anybody can relate to feeling so bad you don't even want to get out of bed. To have to get in a race car on a 130-degree racetrack in a 15-layer firesuit certainly tests you. I just had to be positive.”

She had a bye in the first round after Matt Hartford failed to make the call, and she then beat Jimmy Alund with a pass of 6.661 seconds at 207.27 mph to Alund's 6.697 at 206.70 mph.

She then ripped off a .001-second reaction time in the semi's to overcome Greg Anderson's quicker 6.671 at 208.71 mph with her run of 6.673 seconds at 207.53. The difference was on the Christmas Tree, where Anderson's light was .055.

(Ron Lewis photo)

In the final Enders-Stevens and Vincent Nobile -- opponents in the K&N Horsepower Challenge final on Saturday -- made identical 6.674-second passes. Enders-Stevens, though, had a .024 light, a tick quicker than Nobile's .040.