Anderson No. 1 at NHRA Summernationals, earns career 76th low qualifier award
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J., June 6, 2015 – It has been a long time coming, but few doubted that Greg Anderson would eventually be back on top. Anderson, driver of the red Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, sealed the deal on the 76th No. 1 qualifier award of his career on Saturday at the 46th annual NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. It is the first No. 1 for the 75-time Pro Stock winner since the Seattle race in 2011.
“I’m just thrilled,” said Anderson. “It’s been four years since my last No. 1 qualifying spot, and you almost start to resign yourself to the fact that it won’t ever happen again. But my Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro just keeps getting better each and every race we go to, and we did it. Now I finally have a legitimate chance of winning. That’s all I can ask for.
“There was a time when we struggled a little bit with performance, but we did some rebuilding. I went through a little rebuilding myself last year and had to play catch-up, but everything is great now. I feel great, and I have the best racecar and team I’ve ever had, and we’re certainly happy to have Mike Edwards on board helping Rob Downing. I’ve been whipped up and down the racetrack by Mike in the past, and I couldn’t imagine a better guy to come help us. I’m thankful he did.”
In the first session of qualifying, there was no doubt that Anderson was on a mission. His KB Racing-powered Summit Racing Camaro vaulted into the No. 1 spot with a killer 6.511-second pass at 213.43 mph, and although another 6.511, this time at 212.90, was generated in the second session on Friday, he fell to No. 2 at the conclusion of the first day of the event.
Saturday brought about cool temperatures and excellent conditions, though, and Team Summit rolled up their sleeves and set out to make the most of it. In the early session, Anderson powered to a thrilling 6.499, 213.54 that missed the top spot by a painstaking thousandth of a second. Determined and with a perfectly harmonious combination, Anderson brought the heat in the final round of qualifying to snatch the No. 1 position with a 6.479, 214.76 that was more than a hundredth of a second quicker than his closest challenger.
In Anderson’s own words, he has been “knocking on the door” of that No. 1 lately. Twice this year he has been No. 3 when the field was set, and two weeks ago in Topeka, he qualified in the No. 2 position – a personal best for the season, until now.
“Englishtown has always been magical for me, and I’m not quite sure what it is, but it’s always been great. I remember standing on the starting line when I worked for Kurt and Warren Johnson, and watching Kurt go 6.98 [the first official sub 7-second run in the history of NHRA Pro Stock]. That was a magical day, and there have been a whole bunch of them here ever since then. This is just a cool place, and all the Pro Stock guys love racing here – especially if your name is Greg Anderson.”
Anderson will race part-timer Val Smeland in the first round on Sunday, a driver he has yet to face on Sunday this season. Eliminations are set to begin at 11am Eastern, with Top Fuel kicking off the action.