Anderson Intends to Make the Most of Meeting with Familiar Foe in Vegas
Event: 14th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals
Location: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nev.
Day/Date: Saturday, April 6, 2013
Qualifying for the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has concluded, and with a best time of 6.697-seconds at 207.27 mph, Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson finds himself scheduled for a first-round meeting with a very familiar opponent, No. 8 qualifier and teammate Jason Line.
Saturday’s qualifying sessions doubled in anticipation as they also marked the first two rounds of the K&N Horsepower Challenge, a special bonus race for the top seven Pro Stock drivers plus one driver voted in as fan-favorite. Anderson and Line were each out of the gate ahead of their respective opponents to pocket hole shot wins in the first round and went on to fall just one round shy of an all-Summit Racing final.
The KB Racing drivers will battle for the first-round win light on Sunday for only the third time in a decade. Although the plan was most certainly to square off with their Summit Racing Camaros in the final round at their sponsor’s title event rather than the opening stanza, Anderson and Line are preparing to utilize the less than desirable circumstances to set one of their cars on the fast track to the winner’s circle.
“We have to make the most of the situation. We know that one of us will advance to the second round, and it really doesn’t matter which one of our Summit Racing Camaros it is, so long as we have something that can win,” said Anderson, who landed ninth in the line-up. “We have to take first-round as a test session for both cars, and we’ll be trying to learn something that will give the Summit Racing team a chance to win the following round and then hopefully keep right on going.”
As always, KB Racing had great plans for the first part of the weekend – the tireless group had hoped to shine on their way to raceday. The pair of drivers who share six Pro Stock world championships between them have long been accustomed to starting closer to the top of the heap on Sunday, and settling for anything less than the No. 1 and No. 2 qualifying positions is a tough pill to swallow. Qualifying on the same side of the ladder is nothing short of a heartbreaker, particularly when they fully intend to make their sponsor and team owner Ken Black proud.
“The good news is that this has been a real eye-opener, and we know that the way we have been trying to race is just not going to work anymore,” said Anderson. “It’s time to lay down a new foundation. It’s going to be difficult to really change all the wheels on the train by tomorrow, but we’ll certainly be making a lot of changes overnight. This is the start of a different thought process, and I have to say that we’re optimistic about the future for this Summit Racing team. Tomorrow is a new, hopefully brighter, day.”
