MADISON, Ill – The Friday rain did not stop past NHRA Midwest Nationals champions from taking the reins in Pro Stock qualifications, as Erica Enders and Gaige Herrera took the top spots for Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle in front of a near-sellout crowd at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sept. 28.
Enders, six-time Pro Stock champion and six-time St. Louis winner, took the No. 1 qualification spot for Pro Stock with a 6.565, 208.01 mph pass. Enders took the top spot ahead of current point leader Dallas Glenn, who finished with a 6.570, 207.66.
“Coming into St Louis, my sister and I have always had this phrase, ‘everything changes in St. Louis.’ So no matter what’s happened behind us, there’s a lot to look forward to in front of us,” said Enders. “It’s a place that I’ve grown up racing at, Steve Torrence, and I used to drag our super comp dragsters up here and run. So a lot of fond memories here, and hopeful to park in the winner again tomorrow.”
While Enders did not win at Midwest Nationals in 2023, she remains the most victorious NHRA driver at St. Louis.
Enders is not the only driver to have success in St. Louis; defending Midwest Nationals Champion, Greg Anderson, took the third qualifying spot for Pro Stock as he finished with a 6.578, 207.91.
With Enders, Glenn and Anderson making up the top three qualifying spots in Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle followed with Herrera taking the No. 1 spot in his class.
2023 Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Herrera, finished with a 6.796, 197.74, beating current championship leader Matt Smith’s 6.807, 198.12. With Smith only sitting 25 points ahead of Herrera, Sunday’s race could change that order as Herrera has history at WWTR.
“My mindset is just try to go round by round,” said Herrera. “I really don’t look back at last year or, you know, yesterday. I just try to go out there and go A to B each pass and do the best I can as a rider.”
History in St. Louis runs deep among the top qualifiers as TJ Zizzo took his second ever No. 1 qualifying position with his run of 3.714, 327.66 at his “second home track.”
While Chicago is his typical home race, Chicago was off the racing calendar for a period of time, and Zizzo made WWTR his temporary home.
“I’ve cooked pancakes here for fans because this was our home track at this point,” said Zizzo. “So yeah, it would be near and dear to my heart to be able to come out here to qualify number one and go full force.”
The last of the four qualifying spots in the Nitro and Pro Stock qualifications went to Funny Car Driver Austin Prock. Prock finished with a 3.836, 330.72 and currently sits first in the Funny Car class, 129 points ahead of Bob Tasca III who qualified No.3 in Q1, but fell to No. 8 during Q2.
Prock has won the last three races, but this weekend had a different structure due to rain canceling Friday qualifications.
“We racked up all the qualifying points today, and, you know, some of the cars that are hiking with us didn’t get very many or any,” said Prock. “So, yeah, it was another great day.”
Hopes are high going into eliminations on Sunday at WWTR. Eliminations start with Nitro at 11:00 a.m. on Sept. 29.
MEDIA CONTACT: Allison Vandemore | avandemore@wwtraceway.com
