Anderson races to the semifinals at NHRA Finals
POMONA, Calif., November 15, 2015 – The final race of the 2015 season drew to a close with Greg Anderson coming up one round short of the final, and for the Summit Racing NHRA Pro Stock driver, that only ignites a fire to power into the off-season and get to work on next year. Driving the red Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, Anderson finished a comeback year in the No. 2 position with his performance at the 51st annual Auto Club NHRA Finals.
Anderson claimed the 80th low qualifier award of his career at Auto Club Raceway Pomona, and he started his charge for the title with a first-round match with Matt Hartford. Anderson was first to the finish line stripe in his trusty Chevy and got the win light with a 6.536-second pass at 211.96 mph to his opponent’s 6.594, 210.01.
Without lane choice over Chris McGaha in the second round, Anderson knew he would have his work cut out for him. Wisely and efficiently, he slapped a .008-second reaction time on his challenger and wheeled his way down the quarter-mile dragstrip to a cool 6.515, 212.53 win over a 6.517, 211.99. Anderson’s pass was the quickest and fastest of all his competitors on Sunday, and it came with lane choice over Vincent Nobile in the semifinals.
Anderson was ready but perhaps a bit too ready as he left the starting line a painful .001-second too soon, illuminating a red light and fouling out. Nobile shoved in the clutch and coasted to a winning 8.523, 98 mph to Anderson’s 6.520 at 212.33 that was the quickest and fastest of the round.
“After the championship was decided, we had two goals coming into this race: to win the race and to finish No. 2 for the year,” said Anderson. “We got half of that done. We want the best, and if we don’t get the win, we aren’t happy. We are still satisfied with the improvements we’ve made with our Summit Racing Chevy Camaro, though, and it really was a good year.
“We have to look at the positives, and we have a lot of confidence in our team that they can give us a great hot rod. That’s a great feeling, and yes, we have a lot of changes to make to our engine program in the off-season to comply with the new rules for 2016, but we feel good about it. We’ll make the most of it. We’re excited to go home, work hard, and come back here in February with the best horsepower and hopefully dominate again.