COMMERCE, Ga. (May 5) – Erica Enders and the KLR Group Chevrolet team gave notice Saturday afternoon that they will be players in Sunday's Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Enders posted the fourth-best run of the steamy final qualifying session, making a pass of 6.655 seconds at 207.56 mph. She'll start Sunday from the No. 7 spot as she chases her first career Pro Stock victory. "After watching eight, 10, 12 cars go down in front of us, I wasn't really expecting the number we threw up there," Enders said. "But my guys have really got the hot-weather setup down. We're still a few hundredths behind where we need to be, but it was a pretty decent run for the heat and for the correction factor and density altitude. I'm pleased with it and excited to go into Sunday and redeem ourselves from last weekend." Enders was solid in qualifying last weekend in Houston, but a minor parts failure caused her to slow in a first-round upset in eliminations. She once again looks sharp in Atlanta with a best run of 6.637 seconds at 208.20 mph and will face No. 10 Shane Gray in the first round. Gray's best pass was 6.643 seconds at 206.99 mph. "It'll be a long, hot day just like today," Enders said of race day. "Every run's going to count, and I've got confidence in my guys that they know the setup for the heat. I'm excited about tomorrow. Our day starts with Shane, and hopefully ends with a trophy." Crew chiefs Dave Connolly and Tommy Utt have worked to improve Enders' Chevy, and after she started with a run of 6.661 at 207.11 in Q1, she went 6.644 at 207.69 mph in Q2 and 6.637 at 208.20 mph in Q3. Saturday's final run was in temperatures approaching 90 degrees and track temps above 130. "The car's pretty consistent," Enders said. "We made some changes last night before we came in today, and definitely made an improvement this morning. The air was similar to what it was yesterday, and to be able to go out and improve on what we ran is good. "That .65, in the heat – fourth-best for the session, that's not too shabby going into Sunday. We'll take it and work with what we've got." Pro Stock eliminations will begin around noon. ESPN2 is carrying all the action with same-day coverage. From: Rob Geiger
