Anderson Looks Forward to Tight Races on Sunday in Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif., July 27, 2013 – Greg Anderson made four consistently improving runs this weekend during qualifying for the NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway in the picturesque California Napa Valley, and the four-time Sonoma winner is preparing to start from the No. 4 spot at one of his favorite tracks on NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour. On Sunday in Sonoma, Anderson will race against JR Carr in the first round of eliminations, a driver he has yet to meet on raceday.
In the first session of qualifying, Anderson put a respectable 6.612 at 210.14 mph on the scoreboard to jump into the No. 7 spot, but he and Team Summit were not satisfied and returned for the cooler second session with an even better set-up. Anderson reeled off a markedly improved 6.545 at 210.57 mph to grab hold of the No. 4 position, which he was able to protect on Saturday with a set of 6.56 passes, each at over 210 mph.
“We were trying a few things this weekend, and thankfully we were able to do that without losing any ground,” said Anderson. “We made some big changes, and to be honest, I’m surprised to see that we ran the same. We expected it to be better or worse, but thankfully we were able to try those things and didn’t lose our way.”
For Anderson, the valuable information gained during qualifying will come into play on Sunday as he challenges for his first victory of the season at a racetrack where he is currently recognized as the class-leader in terms of victories.
“The challenge right now is that the track is so good that nearly every car is making good runs,” said Anderson. “Sonoma Raceway is a great equalizer for all of the Pro Stock cars, and I think you’ll see a lot of very, very close, side-by-side racing on Sunday. We’ll need to find a way to win; it’s as simple as that. There won’t be any huge margins of victory, so it’s going to be exciting out there. We sure love this racetrack.
“We have a very competitive car, and with two more runs today under our belt, we should be able to take what we learned with our Summit Racing Camaros, apply them, and move forward tomorrow. Because it’s such a great racetrack out there, you’re able to make really nice runs – and that means it’s going to be a good raceday tomorrow. I’m going to have to drive really well, but I certainly feel like I have a chance tomorrow. Maybe we can close the gap a little bit more, have a little fortune, and maybe we’ll be able to put a Summit Racing Camaro in the winner’s circle at the end of the day.”