Anderson Powers Fast Summit Racing Camaro Into Sunday Eliminations in Vegas
LAS VEGAS, Nev., April 11, 2015 – The red Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro was furiously fast during Saturday qualifying at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and pilot Greg Anderson is in full control of his speedy mount heading into raceday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals. Anderson, qualified in the No. 3 position – his best start since the Brainerd event in 2013 – will race Jonathan Gray in the first round of eliminations.
Anderson flew to a 6.642-second pass at 208.65 mph in the first round of qualifying in Las Vegas and improved to a 6.621 at 208.81 mph in the later session to pick up a bonus point and move up to third in the lineup. On Saturday, the 75-time national event winner and seven-time Las Vegas victor made a monstrous 6.629, 208.84 pass that was low of the session and good for three additional bonus points. He held the quickest time of the day through the end of the final round of qualifying despite trouble in the last session that kept him from making it down the quarter-mile to the finish line.
“I can’t even remember the last time I earned three bonus points in a qualifying round,” admitted Anderson. “It’s like making a half-court shot in basketball with nothing but net. That was a good run, and it was a great feeling that really had me looking forward to the fourth qualifying session and trying to back it up. Unfortunately, a valve spring broke on the burnout and we had to shut it off. It’s a good thing I did, otherwise we would have hurt the engine. It was the right decision, but we really wanted that run.
“No matter how you look at it, I think we have a great chance to win tomorrow. The bottom line is that we have two great Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros, and tomorrow is a new day. It’s going to be a little warmer out there, and we need to make sure we run error-free and get off what will probably be a tricky starting line. I feel good about our chances. We’re right in the thick of it, and it will just come down to executing.”
Last season, Anderson raced Gray on four separate occasions. The stats are currently split with two wins in Anderson’s favor and two in Gray’s. Most recently, Anderson had the upper hand – and it was just last fall at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when he beat the then-rookie in the first round.
“We’ve certainly had plenty of run-ins with Jonathan, and it will be a good match,” said Anderson. “He’s a great driver. It will be a Battle Royale first round. But that’s the way it should be, it should be tough from start to finish. When you beat the best, you feel the best at the end of the day. We want to be in that winner’s circle celebrating tomorrow. This is Summit Racing’s event, and they’re great people. We don’t want to let them down tomorrow. We want to make sure we get a good victory circle picture tomorrow with everyone who is here from Summit Racing Equipment.”