Enders Brainerd Saturday report

Enders to face Krisher in Sunday's opening round {{1088468|left|s3}

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 20) – ZaZa Energy driver Erica Enders hopes history can repeat itself in Sunday's Pro Stock eliminations at the 30th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

Enders' crew chief, Dave Connolly, scored his first Pro Stock victory at Brainerd in 2004, and Enders would like nothing better than to get her initial Pro Stock "Wally" Sunday.

"When we rolled into the gates on Friday, he said, 'Well, Eureka, I got my first one here in '04. Maybe we can get your first one here in 2011,'" Enders said. "That would be awesome."

"Eureka" is Connolly's nickname for Enders, who qualified eighth in her ZaZa Energy Chevrolet Cobalt with a pass of 6.615 seconds at 208.88 mph. That was made in the third qualifying session, when she was fifth-fastest overall.

But Enders believes the ZaZa Chevrolet can pick up the pace even more in Sunday's final eliminations.

"We took steps in the right direction every round but we didn't exactly step off on the level we expected to," Enders said. "Having said that, I think we have a lot to look forward to tomorrow because we didn't really show them what we had in qualifying. Being eighth doesn't look too pretty on paper, but we know we have way more to offer than that.

"Going into tomorrow, it might be a little bit of an advantage because nobody knows that. They think that's all we've got, but we've got some ET left in the car."

Enders, fifth in the Pro Stock points standings, faces No. 10 points earner Ron Krisher in the first round Sunday.

"Sundays are always tough," Enders said. "There is no easy round in Pro Stock. We're always going to have to work for it. We'll come out swinging tomorrow, for sure."