Anderson Ready to Get Back to Work After Charlotte
Mooresville, N.C., September 15, 2013 – Summit Racing driver Greg Anderson has a strong record at zMAX Dragway, the site of this weekend’s sixth annual Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals. With three Pro Stock victories in Charlotte on his scorecard, Anderson always has high expectations when it is time to race at what he considers a home track. This weekend however, he was left wanting more.
“The Summit Racing team is such a strong group, and my teammate showed here this weekend that we have power and the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros can be great cars,” said Anderson. Line was the No. 1 qualifier and runner-up at the event. “On the other hand, we clearly have some work to do to bring my car up to the caliber of racecar that we have for Jason.”
Anderson made four passes in the 6.5-second zone during qualifying, and his best time of 6.556 at 210.44 mph resulted in a start from the No. 7 position. The four-time Pro Stock world champion squared off with Vincent Nobile in the first round of eliminations on Sunday, and he took full advantage of lane choice to make his start from the much-preferred right lane.
Anderson’s opponent was in trouble soon after the launch and he easily moved on to take the win with a 6.596 at 209.75. Although he logged the round win, Anderson lost lane choice to Mike Edwards for their quarterfinals match as Edwards’ opening round elapsed time was .015-second quicker.
“Lane choice was very important this weekend, and the work that we did last night and this morning to bring our car closer to Jason’s really could have made a difference if we hadn’t lost lane choice,” said Anderson. “But we just weren’t fast enough in the first round, and we didn’t get the job done. We missed a little bit on the first run, and it was the kiss of death.”
Anderson’s Camaro was first off the starting line by a bunch in his match with Edwards, but he soon lost traction and could only watch as Edwards surged ahead to take the win light. The early ending to the day was particularly disappointing as Anderson had hoped to make a strong start in the first of six races in NHRA’s 2013 Countdown to the Championship. Anderson entered the event as the No. 7 seed but was bumped down one spot to eighth at the conclusion of the event.
“It was a shame that we weren’t able to have a better outing here, but that’s okay – we’ve got a great team, we know we have Summit Racing Camaros with a lot of potential, and we’re just going to pick up and keep going,” said Anderson. “We’re going to stay here at zMAX Dragway tomorrow and do some testing, see if we can rectify what went wrong this weekend before we go to the race next weekend in Dallas. We’re going to keep digging. Today wasn’t our day, but we have a lot of confidence that we can right this ship and get the Summit Racing Camaro back up there.”
