The title — “winningest woman in motorsports” — has long been held by a drag racer.
In 1977, Top Fuel star Shirley Muldowney, later christened the “First Lady of Drag Racing,” became the first woman to win a professional motorsports title. She racked up 18 national event victories by 1989.
A few decades later, Sampey arrived on the scene and quickly took over Muldowney’s reign as the winningest woman in NHRA. The Pro Stock Motorcycle sensation reached and surpassed 18 career victories during her 2001 season.
“It was pretty huge for me personally, because when I started racing, I’d have to say 85 percent of what I was faced with was people telling me, ‘You’re never gonna do this. You can’t do this,’” Sampey recalled. “Now, I’m the winningest female racer. That was huge for me, because I didn’t just get the bike down the track. I didn’t just win a single race, but I won championships.”
That same year, the three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion set the record for the most wins by a female in a single season (seven).
Before stepping away from Pro Stock Motorcycle competition in 2022, Sampey collected 46 victories in the category — setting her apart as the winningest female drag racer in NHRA history for 22 straight years.
“It was really cool for me to have that title. I guess I could say I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have because I didn’t know what it would be like to lose it until now,” Sampey said.
After Sampey, came Enders.
Enders became the first woman to reach a final elimination round in the Pro Stock category at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals in 2005. Seven years later, she became the first female to win a Pro Stock race at the same track.
Since her inaugural Super Gas victory at Houston Raceway Park in 2004, Enders has collected 48 Wallys and six Pro Stock world championships.
“I really respect Erica,” Sampey said. “She’s the type of racer that I am. You know, she just wants to win no matter who’s in the other lane.”
Enders’ obsession with winning has pushed her to the pinnacle of NHRA, and it’s happened somewhat rapidly. All six of her championships have been won within the last 11 years.
But the success hasn’t come without sacrifice.
“Going to the races is kind of like the highlight reel, right? People don’t see all of the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on — the hard work and the grueling hours,” Enders said. “You give up your personal life, you don’t get to have friends or outings. In my case, you know, I’m getting older and I don’t have any kids yet, so that kind of weighs on me a little bit.
“You sacrifice everything. It becomes the forefront of your life and in order to be great at something, I think that’s a must. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot of balance there.”
Despite the drawbacks, Enders has embraced her new standing as motorsports’ winningest woman. She also recognizes that her current reality was once nothing but a dream of her 8-year-old self — a dream that Muldowney’s career example helped foster.
“I did some stuff on a Shirley Muldowney documentary earlier today, and talked about how important her role was for the younger generation, which is now our job — mine, Leah’s (Pruett), Alexis’ (DeJoria), Angelle’s (Sampey) — for the younger generation beyond us,” Enders said.
Speaking specifically of Muldowney, who was Enders’ childhood hero, the Texas native added, “She definitely paved the way and went through things that nobody should have to go through. And there’s still some of that crap that goes on, but having that role is very important to me. It’s not a job I take lightly. I want to be the best role model that I can.
“You know, you live life in front of a camera. Your life is like a fishbowl and people are mean and judgy and all the things — but I get to do what I love for a living and I just try to do the best at it that I can,” Enders concluded.
This story appeared in the Dec 27, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
