It’s been a year since Erica Enders witnessed her hometown drag strip, Houston Raceway Park, drop off the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule.
With the facility set to be repurposed this year, Enders closed its chapter in her book during the NHRA Spring Nationals last April after a 31-year run of making memories at the Baytown, Texas, drag strip.
Fast forward to this July and the five-time Pro Stock champion will be saying another goodbye to a beloved race track — Colorado’s Bandimere Speedway.
The Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals on July 14-16 will conclude NHRA’s 43-year run at the historic facility. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, the track’s 6,000-foot elevation level has made it a standout event and unique challenge for teams and drivers through the years.
Since Enders made her professional NHRA debut in 2005, the Pro Stock category has appeared at Bandimere 16 times. As she has yet to finish in the final round at Denver, Enders’ sentiment toward losing the track has little to do with her on-track results and is much more personal.
To fully understand Enders’ history with Bandimere, one must travel back in time.
In 1992, the future 44-time national event winner started competing at the speedway in the Jr. Drag Racing League, hoping to make enough of a splash to make it to the next level.
But during her time at “Thunder Mountain,” a bond formed between Enders and the Bandimere family, which has owned and operated the drag strip since it opened in 1958.
“The Bandimere family has been close friends of ours for a while,” Enders said.
“Ours” includes Enders and her sister, Courtney, who also raced Jr. Dragsters in the ’90s.
However, the tie between Enders and the Bandimeres is best illustrated by a moment they shared at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in 2014, when Enders was on the verge of winning her first Pro Stock championship.
“In Pomona, John and his family came over and asked to pray with me before the final round, where it came down to Jason Line and I — winner take all,” Enders recalled. “It just puts a different perspective on everything, and to have that common ground in Christ is really cool.”
Following their collective prayer, Enders barreled down the California drag strip in 6.480 seconds, beating Line to the win light and securing her inaugural NHRA world title. With that in mind, she admitted the thought of losing Bandimere has torn at her heart strings, but Enders also has hope that this isn’t the end.
“Talking to Tami and the girls, I believe they are hunting for a different property. Yes, it will be years down the road, but that’s a huge market to miss out on,” Enders said. “As is Houston, as is Atlanta, as if Phoenix, if they go away. We’re seeing a lot of interesting tracks get pulled from us. It’s sad to see it go.”