This year the European FIA drag racing championship has been canceled due to obvious pandemic reasons. As most teams are missing the championship action, we decided to bring the action to them by taking them through memory lane. We went looking for the story behind the story. This time one of the Swedish Pro Stock drivers competing in the FIA championship. This is the story behind; Stefan Ernryd.
Text: Told By Stefan Ernryd, edited by Benjamin Wefer
Picture: Benjamin Wefer
Stefan Ernryd got in touch with the world of drag racing way before anyone could imagine. His story goes back to 1978 as a twelve-year-old boy when he started visiting the Sko Uno Drag festivals in Mantorp, Sweden. This was a very common race event back in the day. Stefan’s neighbor was racing there with a 1971 Dodge Challenger. Stefan knew from that moment, that American Muscle cars would be the center of his life. As soon as he got his driving license in 1984 he started racing his 1970 Challenger 440, 6 pac (and later a 1969 Hemi Roadrunner) on the streets around Mariestad/Skovde; the town where he has his speed shop. He was attending the illegal night races called Skaraborg Open. Stefan’s passion for cars grew even more and his career took off in the automotive industry. He became one of Sweden’s importers of US cars. In 1986, at the age of 20, he opened Ernryd cars and he continued this line of business for the next thirty-five years. So now you know that the Ernryd logo on Stefan’s Dodge Stratus is not only propaganda. This is 40 years of passion, love, and dedication for muscle cars!
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Stefan continued racing during the years in the sportsmen class with a 1969 Dodge Dart at Mantorp Park and sometimes Kjula Dragway in Eskilstuna, Sweden.
In 2011 Stefan entered the Pro-stock world as a sponsor. Ernryd cars signed up with Thomas Lindström’s and his Pro Stock Dodge Stratus. Stefan didn’t want to miss all the action so he started racing himself in the Superstreet class with a 1969 Dodge Dart. This was at the same time Tierp Arena was built. Tierp Arena is a motorsport track in Tierp, Sweden, located 120 kilometers up north of Stockholm.
After being involved in Pro Stock racing, Stefan decided to take it to the next level. He bought a brand new Dodge Dart in the fall of 2015. He had it built by Jerry Haas at Jerry Haas Racecars (USA). For those who don’t recognize the name, Jerry has been involved in drag racing and building race cars since the eighties including Trevor Eman’s 2018 Pro Stock Mustang from Team Aruba.
A few months later he received his Pro Stock race license at Bradenton Motorsport Park in Florida together with Allen Johnson and with a little help from Jimmy Ålund.
So starting 2016, Stefan was running Pro stock and ended up second in the championship of 2017 & 2018. He made it into the final round seven times in a row during the 2017/2018 season. Of course, I couldn’t resist asking him a series of detailed questions.
Why did you decide to start racing Pro Stock? In which he replies;
‘ the tuning is the key on a Pro Stock car together with the driving. As you know we rely on what mother nature can give us in horse power depending on air pressure, humidity etc. so the combinations are endless’
Why is Pro Stock considered a difficult class?
‘driving is demanding where you have no chance for mistakes, when you drop the clutch you can only rely on shift light and its very tough to be exact on shift points, were on 1st gear you have 1 seconds, on the 2nd gear 0,6 seconds. 3rd gear 0,5 seconds, 4th gear 1 seconds and finally the 5th gear approx. 2,5 seconds. So it’s not that you can watch the RPM and shift, it goes way to quick. You also need to keep the car straight and with 1 hand on steering wheel the other shifting; it’s an adventure. The sight is also limited; Once launched, you will see the track again after the third gear is in. So that’s also a challenge.’
Would you be interested in racing any other class?
for me Pro Stock is the only class, but I would not mind testing a Top fuel Dragster just for the thrill.
What would be the best/ worst moment you ever experience within your racing career?
The best moment was the win at Santa Pod main event 2018, it was the first official win and that is something you don’t forget and we made very well that weekend.
Stefan won the following second and third rounds of that season.
The worst moment of my career would be the 2017 win at Hockenheim Germany. I crashed at the finish line after Bengt Ljungdahl came over in my lane.
Screenshot from 2017 FIA Nitrolympx video provided by Santapod TV/Zeon TV
We never made contact, I was ca 2 meter behind him, I slammed on the brakes and slided over to the right lane and made contact with the wall on right side. I never had the chance to get frightened, just concerned about the car. I feel very safe in this car. But afterwards looking at the film, it looked scary. But winning a race sideways over the finish line at 300+ km is something to remember.
Besides that, We had 2 days to repair the car for the next championship round the following weekend at Tierp Arena Sweden. That was including driving home from Germany and from home to Tierp. so no sleep that week !
Unfortunately, the 2021 championship like last year’s, has been canceled due to obvious reasons, but the clock at Ernryd racing team didn’t stand still. They gave the Dodge a great update and some new parts, which they don’t want to release yet, but they believe they have the right combination to provide close races and a good chance to take the title in 2022.
So what does Drag Race means to Stefan Ernryd?
Drag racing is being part of a big family with great friends with mutual interests, like a second family to your own! I want to do this for the rest of my life, nothing beats this sport
# Pro2 car info:
Build in: America by Jerry Haas (Jerry Haas Race Cars)
Make: Dodge Stratus
Year: 2015
Engine: 500 CI Hemi, Built by Roy Johnson
Gearbox: Liberty five-speed
Electronics & remaining car specs: Classified!
A man with passion for American muscle, especially Detroit steel; Dodge. Only four years actively racing pro stock (excluding 2020 and this year), but had an interest in drag racing even before having his driving license. Won his first race crossing the finish line sideways in his second year racing pro stock. Now you know the Story Behind; Stefan Ernryd!
