ERICA ENDERS AIMS FOR MORE HISTORY AT HOMETOWN HOUSTON TRACK

HOUSTON (April 24) – GK Motorsports driver Erica Enders carries some confidence and momentum into this weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway.Enders is coming off a runner-up finish in the 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway, a result that prompted a phone call from Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden, a 10-time world champion.


“Bob Glidden actually called me on Monday after the race,” Enders said. “We talked a couple weeks ago, too, when I called him after Grumpy (Bill Jenkins) died. He called me on Monday, and the conversation starts out as, ‘Gosh darn it, I thought you were going to win.’”


Enders worked with Glidden on another team a few years ago, and Glidden continues to be a mentor to the 28-year-old driver.


“He told me that he was proud of me and that I’m doing a really good job,” Enders said. “He said he’s been doing this a long time and that the luck will turn. I believe him. Who better to believe than Bob Glidden?”


Glidden won 85 races in his Hall of Fame career, while Enders continues to gun for her elusive first victory in Pro Stock. She’s raced to four final rounds in the last 19 races dating back to last year and has been driving like a champion recently.


Reaction time is crucial to success in Pro Stock, and no one has been better than Enders. She’s had an average launch time of .029 seconds over the last two races, including lights of .017 and .016 in the semifinals and finals, respectively, in Charlotte.


Enders advanced to the semifinals in Las Vegas, and then qualified fourth and reached the finals in Charlotte.


“I am a believer in momentum,” Enders said. “We’ve just got to keep plugging away at it. I’m blessed to have guys who want it as bad as I do. They work their butts off at the shop all week long and they give me a great race car. We know what happened in the finals in Charlotte, and we stayed after and tested to figure some more things out. If I can keep driving the way I’m driving and we keep having a good car, we will keep momentum going.”


Enders will feel at home in Houston as she’s raced at Seth Angel’s facility for more than 20 years. Plus, as a Houston native, Enders will be surrounded by family and friends all weekend.
“I’ve been going there for a really long time, so it’s always fun and exciting to come home and reconnect with family and friends,” Enders said. “I get to see people I haven’t seen forever, and that’s always nice. We’re gone most of the year, so it’s good to have some familiarity.”


Enders scored her first NHRA national event title there in 2004, winning in Super Gas.


“That was really cool because I grew up at that race track,” Enders said. “I won my first Junior Dragster race there when I was 8. That track’s got a lot of memories, and I’m really close to Seth.”


Enders beat her college roommate, Jonathan Johnson, in the finals that day. “He and I had grown up racing Jr. Dragsters, so it was one of those Cinderella stories,” Enders said. “It’s something I’ll never forget."


“I’ve had all my first wins there, from Jr. Dragsters to Super Comp to Super Gas to Top Dragster. It’d be cool to have my first Pro Stock win there, too, but we have to go out and earn it.”

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16-year-old Dominique Van Wieringen sets sights on Two Track Championships in 2012

     DeWitt, Michigan (Thursday, March 15^th, 2012): When Amherstburg, Ontario / Canada driver, Dominique Van Wieringen began her racing career in full-sized stock cars in 2011, expectations were for her to gain valuable experience and valuable seat time and anything else would be a bonus. What ended up happening was a rookie season that would be a successful year for an accomplished and experienced driver let alone a rookie!

 During her first season behind the wheel of a full-sized stock car, the 16-year-old Canadian teenager finished fifth overall in the season long points chase in the premier division at the ¼ (0.250) mile semi-banked paved oval of Spartan Speedway in Mason, Michigan, the Outlaw Super Late Models. She shared the 2011 Rookie of the Year title with fellow freshman, Scott Sigman and also walked away with the 2011 Most Improved Driver Award.

 Now with a full season behind her, all of the focus shifts to her sophomore campaign as her 2012 plans call for her to return to the Chad Finley Racing Driver Development stables with a focus on chasing after the 2012 Track Championship at Spartan as well as at the fast 3/8s (0.375) mile high-banked paved oval of Springport Motor Speedway, located northwest of Jackson in Springport, Michigan on Saturday nights.

 In addition, she’ll also run for the 2012 Sunday Slugfest Title, an Outlaw Super Late Models mini-series exclusively held at Spartan on special Sunday afternoons. The mini-series includes an appearance by the ARCA Gold Cup Outlaw Super Late Model Series on Sunday, May 27^th as that event, a 100-lap main, not only serves as the Slugfest Series opener, but will also be the ARCA Gold Cup’s second race of the season.

      "We hope to continue to improve and gain valuable experience for the future. We’ll definitely gain more experience by adding Springport to our schedule in addition to Spartan.” Stated Van Wieringen as her and the CFR Racing Team continue preparations for the upcoming season which sits at 23 events with the possibility of more being added later in the season at other facilities in addition to Spartan and Springport.  

“We don’t expect to come right out and win races, but we do expect to get better every week out. Last year was really great, I learned a lot during the season and I think I improved a lot faster than everyone thought I would.” She continued. “We’re all hoping to contend for both track championships and the competition at both places will definitely be tough. I really look forward to the challenge.” Added Van Wieringen.  

The highlight of her rookie season was in only her sixth career start behind the wheel of a full bodied racecar and on that memorable Friday night, July 15^th, 2011 as she would fight off two-time track champion, Jimmy Gallagher to score her first career feature win.  

“That was totally unexpected for me, it surprised me when the two cars spun in front of me with just a few laps to go and I looked up at the scoreboard and I was leading,” She explained. “It was fun and nerve wracking too knowing that Jimmy was back there. I just tried to stay focused on racing the track and not worrying about trying to hold him off. He raced me clean though and I really appreciate it. He could’ve definitely bumped me out of the way more than once, but I’m happy that he didn’t.” She ended.

By winning the Feature that night, Van Wieringen became just the second female in the tracks long and storied history to win a Feature in the tracks premiere division since Barb Beurmann accomplished the feat back in 1982, 29 years previous! In 10 starts during her freshman season, she scored her one Feature Win as well as three top five finishes and six top 10s.

Future plans have the Canadian teenager, who will turn 17 on June 22^nd, tentatively making select appearances within the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by GM Performance Parts towards the end of the 2012 season with her sights set on going after the Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year Presented by Howe Racing Enterprises, which is awarded to the top freshman in the JEGS/CRA/GM series for the 2013 campaign.  

For the 2012 racing season, Van Wieringen’s #95 Outlaw Super Late Model will be sporting a black paint scheme and will have sponsorship decals on the side of the cars from DuroByte Inc., as well as NorthsideTowing.net, Howe Racing Enterprises, M.P.H. Promotions, and Chad Finley Racing. To learn more about Dominique Van Wieringen and to inquire about sponsorship opportunities for the upcoming season, go to her webpage at: www.dominiqueracing.com

Contact: Jeff Finley

517-819-1560