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Racer Magazine Names Erica Enders-Stevens Racer Of The Year
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Erica Enders-Stevens, 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock world champion, has been named Racer of the Year and Drag Racer of the Year by the readers of Racer magazine. This is the first time that either award has been presented to a female racer.
The magazine also announced that NHRA Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton was voted Rookie of the Year by its readers.
Enders-Stevens claimed nearly half of the votes (48.9 percent) from fans for the Racer of the Year title, compared with 6.2 percent for NASCAR’s Kevin Harvick and 5.4 percent for F1’s Lewis Hamilton. She earned 66 percent of the fan vote to win the highly competitive Drag Racer of the Year title. Funny Car series runner-up John Force received the second-most votes in the Drag Racer of the Year voting at 14.6 percent.
Enders-Stevens is the second NHRA driver to ever be named Racer of the Year. Force won the award in 2010 and 2013.
“Erica Enders-Stevens’ championship victory in Pro Stock grabbed headlines for NHRA far beyond drag racing, and her victory in Racer of the Year voting really ticked the boxes for all those of us who love that category for its sexy cars,” said David Malsher, Racer’s editor.
The 2014 season was a breakthrough one for veteran Enders-Stevens, who was in her first season at the controls of her 200-mph Elite Motorsports Chevy Camaro. Enders-Stevens clinched her first championship when she defeated rival Jason Line, her nearest competitor in the points, in a winner-take-all final round at the season-ending event in Pomona.
“The Racer of the Year award has been won by a drag racer only twice before—both times John Force—and Mrs. Enders-Stevens just blew aside Mr. 16-Time Champ in the voting this year,” Malsher said. “To do that for the Drag Racer of the Year award was one thing. But in winning the overall award, she also defeated NASCAR champ Kevin Harvick, Formula 1 champ Lewis Hamilton, and IndyCar champ Will Power. Just like in NHRA Pro Stock, where she had to beat a driver as tough as double-champ Jason Line, she’s beaten the best of the best to earn this award. And this time, it’s through people power rather than horsepower.”
Enders-Stevens' team raced to six victories and one runner-up finish. She also became the first female winner of the K&N Horsepower Challenge, an NHRA Pro Stock specialty race in Las Vegas. She also set both ends of the Pro Stock national record with an elapsed time of 6.464 seconds and a speed of 215.55 mph last season in Englishtown.
“I am truly honored to receive this award, and I have to thank my team and all my fans for voting,” Enders-Stevens said. “I have always said my fans are the best, and they proved it one more time. Thank you all so much. I'm so thankful for my team owner, Richard Freeman, my crew chiefs, Rick and Rickie Jones, and everyone at Elite for making 2014 so special. We were fast all year, thanks to our tremendous horsepower from Jake Hairston and Nick Ferri, and we were fortunate to win six races. What an honor, and I am so humbled and thankful to represent drag racing and all the women racers out there. To young aspiring people out there struggling and being told you can't reach your dreams, please remember me, a regular 8-year-old kid with big dreams who never quit trying and believing. If I did it, so can you! Do your best, and let God do the rest.”
Crampton is the third NHRA driver to earn Racer’s Rookie of the Year award, following Funny Car driver Courtney Force in 2012 and Top Fuel driver Brittany Force in 2013.
Crampton raced to two victories in 2014, at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals in New Jersey and the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. He also was named NHRA’s Auto Club Road to the Future Award winner.
“Richie Crampton as our Rookie of the Year is a great feel-good story,” Malsher said. “The kid from Adelaide, Australia, has followed the wheel tracks of stars like Medlen, Dunn, Hight, and Neff, who went from respected crewmen to the cockpit of a 300-mph-plus car and became winners.”
Crampton joins a distinguished list of past winners of the award, including the Force sisters, Hamilton, Joey Logano, James Hinchcliffe, and Ryan Dungey.
“I am ecstatic that I won the 2014 Racer Rookie of the Year award,” Crampton said. “It really just puts the cherry on top of an already amazing rookie season. I couldn't be more blessed that I got the opportunity to drive for Morgan Lucas Racing and work with such a great group of guys. Without them, my sponsors, and my family, I would have never been in this position to begin with.”
The magazine also announced that NHRA Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton was voted Rookie of the Year by its readers.
Enders-Stevens claimed nearly half of the votes (48.9 percent) from fans for the Racer of the Year title, compared with 6.2 percent for NASCAR’s Kevin Harvick and 5.4 percent for F1’s Lewis Hamilton. She earned 66 percent of the fan vote to win the highly competitive Drag Racer of the Year title. Funny Car series runner-up John Force received the second-most votes in the Drag Racer of the Year voting at 14.6 percent.
Enders-Stevens is the second NHRA driver to ever be named Racer of the Year. Force won the award in 2010 and 2013.
“Erica Enders-Stevens’ championship victory in Pro Stock grabbed headlines for NHRA far beyond drag racing, and her victory in Racer of the Year voting really ticked the boxes for all those of us who love that category for its sexy cars,” said David Malsher, Racer’s editor.
The 2014 season was a breakthrough one for veteran Enders-Stevens, who was in her first season at the controls of her 200-mph Elite Motorsports Chevy Camaro. Enders-Stevens clinched her first championship when she defeated rival Jason Line, her nearest competitor in the points, in a winner-take-all final round at the season-ending event in Pomona.
“The Racer of the Year award has been won by a drag racer only twice before—both times John Force—and Mrs. Enders-Stevens just blew aside Mr. 16-Time Champ in the voting this year,” Malsher said. “To do that for the Drag Racer of the Year award was one thing. But in winning the overall award, she also defeated NASCAR champ Kevin Harvick, Formula 1 champ Lewis Hamilton, and IndyCar champ Will Power. Just like in NHRA Pro Stock, where she had to beat a driver as tough as double-champ Jason Line, she’s beaten the best of the best to earn this award. And this time, it’s through people power rather than horsepower.”
Enders-Stevens' team raced to six victories and one runner-up finish. She also became the first female winner of the K&N Horsepower Challenge, an NHRA Pro Stock specialty race in Las Vegas. She also set both ends of the Pro Stock national record with an elapsed time of 6.464 seconds and a speed of 215.55 mph last season in Englishtown.
“I am truly honored to receive this award, and I have to thank my team and all my fans for voting,” Enders-Stevens said. “I have always said my fans are the best, and they proved it one more time. Thank you all so much. I'm so thankful for my team owner, Richard Freeman, my crew chiefs, Rick and Rickie Jones, and everyone at Elite for making 2014 so special. We were fast all year, thanks to our tremendous horsepower from Jake Hairston and Nick Ferri, and we were fortunate to win six races. What an honor, and I am so humbled and thankful to represent drag racing and all the women racers out there. To young aspiring people out there struggling and being told you can't reach your dreams, please remember me, a regular 8-year-old kid with big dreams who never quit trying and believing. If I did it, so can you! Do your best, and let God do the rest.”
Crampton is the third NHRA driver to earn Racer’s Rookie of the Year award, following Funny Car driver Courtney Force in 2012 and Top Fuel driver Brittany Force in 2013.
Crampton raced to two victories in 2014, at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals in New Jersey and the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. He also was named NHRA’s Auto Club Road to the Future Award winner.
“Richie Crampton as our Rookie of the Year is a great feel-good story,” Malsher said. “The kid from Adelaide, Australia, has followed the wheel tracks of stars like Medlen, Dunn, Hight, and Neff, who went from respected crewmen to the cockpit of a 300-mph-plus car and became winners.”
Crampton joins a distinguished list of past winners of the award, including the Force sisters, Hamilton, Joey Logano, James Hinchcliffe, and Ryan Dungey.
“I am ecstatic that I won the 2014 Racer Rookie of the Year award,” Crampton said. “It really just puts the cherry on top of an already amazing rookie season. I couldn't be more blessed that I got the opportunity to drive for Morgan Lucas Racing and work with such a great group of guys. Without them, my sponsors, and my family, I would have never been in this position to begin with.”
