Anderson Predicts Even Trickier Racing on Sunday in Denver
Denver, Colo., July 20, 2013 – Qualifying has concluded at scenic Bandimere Speedway, and Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson is geared up to run for a third Mile-High NHRA Nationals title at one of the most challenging, and therefore exciting racetracks on NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour. After a qualifying performance that exceeded expectations, Anderson, starting from the No. 6 position, will take on young Vincent Nobile in the first round of eliminations.
The Summit Racing team came out in the first session of qualifying with a set-up that they correctly presumed would reproduce what they had seen in testing the week before the event. A 7.009 at 196.36 mph for the white Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the opening act was a good foundation to build on, and with a slightly more aggressive approach, Anderson reeled off a 6.983, 196.19 in Friday’s second session. Although a pair of back-to-back 7.02-second runs on Saturday didn’t result in an improvement in his qualifying position, Anderson and his KB Racing team were able to gather more data for Sunday’s elimination rounds.
“We did something smart and sent Jason out here to test last week,” said Anderson. “We tried a whole bunch of things, and then we took what we thought were the best things, threw out what we thought were the worst, put everything together, and it gave us a good point to start from. It takes a tremendous amount of change to come here, but we used all the data that he gathered last week and I think we’re running a little bit better than we were a couple of races ago. We still have work to do, but our Summit Racing Camaros are getting better.”
On Friday evening after a marked improvement in the second session, Anderson and the majority of the factory hot rod class competitors believed that the racing surface was on track to only get better and better, but Mother Nature had her say and blazed hot sun on the track nearly all day long – and raceday is slated to bring more of the same.
“Based on past history, we thought the track was going to continue to get better as the weekend wore on, and I think everybody thought that because this morning everybody came out and smoked the tires,” said Anderson. “Everybody thought the same thing, but the sun on the racetrack made the track go right away. We were all way over center in the first run so we had to de-tune again tonight. The sun certainly plays a big part in it, sunshine hurt the track today a lot, and we’re going to have a lot of sunshine again tomorrow.
“It’s going to be tricky. It’s going to come down to which crew chief is making the right decisions on the starting line and low gear. You’re not going to be able to be that aggressive tomorrow, but you can’t get too lazy either or you’ll run slow. It’s going to be a really tricky race and it will probably be a hot son of a gun. It’s going to be a tuner’s race.”