Refocused Anderson Determined to Win During Countdown
Mooresville, N.C., September 10, 2014 – As this weekend’s seventh annual NHRA Carolina Nationals approaches, it is safe to say that Greg Anderson is having one heck of an unusual year. The driver of the white Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro missed five races at the beginning of the 2014 season of NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series as he successfully recovered from heart surgery, and he came back on the scene with a ferocious hunger to make up ground. Anderson battled and battled, reaching three final rounds and regularly winning rounds over opponents by way of his aptitude as a driver. When the regular season came to a close, however, Anderson came up a painful six points shy of making the top 10, and for the first time in his career as a Pro Stock driver, he would not be able to race for the championship.
For the driver with four Pro Stock world titles already on his scorecard, this uncomfortable truth developed quickly into a renewed drive to win races during the playoffs and help teammate Jason Line, the No. 1 seed, win the championship for Summit Racing and team owners Ken and Judy Black.
“I need to win races, and I need to help KB Racing win a championship,” said Anderson. “That’s what all these guys here work for all year long, and yes, we’re going to battle with one bullet instead of two this time around – but we’ll just have to make sure that it’s a bigger bullet so that we can hit the target.”
All season long, the KB Racing team has been whittling away at their Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros to have the best product when the Countdown to the Championship begins, and their efforts have resulted in a collective nine final rounds highlighted by four wins for Line. The team that never rests put in the hours at their race shop in Mooresville, N.C., and went out to neighboring racetracks again and again to put their efforts to the test between events.
“We’ve done a lot of engine work since we got back from the U.S. Nationals in Indy two weeks ago, and we’ve gone to the racetrack and tested our Chevrolet Camaros,” said Anderson. “It’s Countdown time for KB Racing, and we need to do all we can to get off to a great start. We say it every year, but it’s true: you need to have a great start to give yourself the best possible chance of winning the championship, and thankfully, we get to start in Charlotte. This is one of our great tracks where our team seems to perform really well, and after testing there last week, we expect to run well there this weekend. Hopefully, we can find a way to get both of our Summit Racing Camaros to the final round and get Jason a good points lead.
“Ken and Judy Black will be there with us this weekend, and that’s a morale boost for us. It’s always great having them around, and it’s that extra intangible most teams don’t get. We’re excited.”
Although Anderson missed competing at the first race held at zMAX Dragway earlier this year, he was there as a spectator and was thrilled as he watched his car win the race with FIA champion Jimmy Alund behind the wheel.
“I’m going into this race without any kind of pressure at all, now I can go have fun and try to win races, and that could very well turn out to be a winning formula,” said Anderson. “After seeing Jimmy win Charlotte earlier this year, I know my car is capable of it. Hopefully, I can slide right into that winning racecar and put it back in the winner’s circle.”