Anderson Forward Focused Following Summit Racing Southern Nationals
Atlanta, Ga., May 11, 2013 – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson wasn’t a winner in the traditional sense at Atlanta Dragway’s 33rd annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, but the four-time NHRA champion leaves the event with uplifted spirits and a renewed enthusiasm about the stature of his program.
Anderson made certain gains in Atlanta en route to the semifinals at his sponsor’s title event. The race was delayed by one week due to persistent, wet and stormy weather that plagued the race on the originally scheduled weekend, and the postponement allowed the Summit Racing team to venture home to North Carolina and set right to work in the Mooresville, N.C.-based KB Racing shop.
“We used those days to go and work on our racecars, and I definitely think that made us a little bit better,” said Anderson. “The good news after this weekend is that I think we’ll be better from here on out. We definitely used those days to our advantage, and we certainly made progress so that we all feel a whole lot better about our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros. We didn’t win the race, but I really felt like we had a legitimate chance to win. We ran well, and we didn’t have to count on crazy strokes of luck. That’s a good feeling, and we feel like everything is moving in the right direction.
“We also made a personnel change this weekend and added Tim Freeman to the roster. He’s a hardcore, old-school racer who we’ve observed out here for many years, and he brings a lot of experience to the table. No matter how good you’ve been, sometimes you get a little stale, a little stagnant, and you need a new perspective. This is a new chapter for us, and we’re going forward with a new attitude. So far, the results look good.”
Anderson, the No. 4 qualifier, made his best start since the Phoenix event at the beginning of the season and knocked out Chris McGaha in the opening act with a 6.623 at 209.33 mph. In the second round, the Anderson dug deep and launched off the starting line with a well-calculated .018-second reaction time against notoriously quick leaver Greg Stanfield, who was .026 at the hit and was on the losing end of the battle as Anderson went 6.630 in his Summit Racing Camaro to better a 6.677.
For the third time this season, Anderson scored a ticket to the semifinals, and this time he came up against No. 1 qualifier Mike Edwards. A respectable .036 paired with a strong 6.609 at 209.82 mph was just .009-second short of the win light – Edwards advanced with a 6.607, 209.65.
“Summit Racing Equipment is on the billboard here, and it’s very important for us to do well at our sponsor’s race,” said Anderson, now 8th in the Mello Yello Series Pro Stock standings. “It’s certainly not okay to fail anywhere, but there is some extra pressure at a Summit race because you don’t want to fail in front of them; you want to make them proud. But it ups the ante for us, and we all seem to perform a little better under the gun. I think I could have won this race, but Edwards just did a little better job than me today and we didn’t get to go to the final.
“The Summit Racing team is not leaving Atlanta satisfied, but we feel a whole lot better about our program. This is an exciting time for us, and we’ll use the next few days before Topeka to make our program better yet. We’ll roll into Heartland Park next week with a positive feeling that we can contend for the race wins. We’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now, and we’re very happy about that.”