Erica Enders

Erica Enders, the popular Pro Stock racer, will reportedly compete full time in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Erica will be behind the wheel of Jim and Gloria Cunningham's Mastercam Ford Mustang.

Enders will receive technical support from Ford Racing and will begin the season in the same car she drove when she filled in for Cunningham earlier this year at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

"After personally seeing Erica's incredible fan base and how she conducted herself with the fans and in the car at Indy, we asked her to drive for Jim next year, and she agreed to race with us," said Cunningham Motorsports crew chief Marcus Bowen. "She did an outstanding job driving our car and produced four outstanding runs. We are pleased to have her driving the car and marketing Cunningham Motorsports and Ford."


Enders, 25, is already the most successful female racer in class history with the most races entered, most final-round showings, most low-qualifier awards, and most round-wins.

After several meetings with Brian Wolfe, director of Ford Racing, and Doug Hervey, operations manager of Ford Racing North America, as well as several others from the Ford Racing Technology group, the Cunninghams have agreed to fully fund the program until appropriate corporate funding can be found.

The plan is to take the current A500 Pro Stock cylinder block and E460 cylinder head and make some much-needed revisions to the current tooling used to cast these parts in an effort to drastically improve their current powerplant. In addition to this project, Ford Racing has approved engine-block and cylinder-head development of its Ford engine. The new combination is being tested internally at Ford Racing Technology and could be available to Cunningham Motorsports in late 2009.

In addition to the engine-development program, decorated chassis builder Don Ness has been contracted to design a '10 Ford Mustang Pro Stock body. In support of Ness' work, Ford aero engineers have already scheduled multiple wind-tunnel sessions to bring the Mustang body to appropriate levels for Pro Stock competition. Cunningham Motorsports plans to take delivery of the first '10 Mustang in spring 2009.

The 25-year-old Enders already is the most successful female racer in class history with the most races entered, most final-round showings, most low-qualifier awards, and most round-wins. No female racer has ever won a Pro Stock race.

Enders is perhaps best known for the Disney Channel movie Right on Track, which chronicles her and sister Courtney's time in the Jr. Dragster ranks. It remains one of the most viewed movies in Disney Channel history.

The first public appearances of Enders and the Cunningham Motorsports/Mastercam Ford Mustang GT Pro Stock will be at the Ford Racing booth throughout the PRI Show Dec. 11-13 in Orlando, Fla.