Anderson Wheels Summit Racing Camaro to the Final Round in Chicago
 
JOLIET, Ill. (June 30, 2013) – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson returned to familiar form at Route 66 Raceway this weekend at the 12th race of 24 on the 2013 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The four-time Pro Stock world champion and 74-time national event winner qualified his three-race-new Summit Racing Camaro in the No. 4 position and took out some serious competitors en route to his first final round of the season.
 
“I had a good day,” said Anderson, who competed in the 113th final round appearance of his career. “I certainly can’t argue that. It was a good day for the Summit Racing team, and hopefully we can build on it when we get to Norwalk next week for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.”
 
Anderson launched into raceday with a qualifying-best 6.569 at 209.30 that would count as his best start since Atlanta earlier this season. Scheduled for a first-round meeting with veteran competitor V. Gaines, Anderson arrived at the Chicago-area racetrack in full race-mode and wearing his game face. The Mooresville, N.C.-based driver had a cool .016-second reaction time to Gaines’ .055 and sealed the deal at the top end on a holeshot, recording a slower e.t. but crossing the finish line ahead of his opponent thanks to a very strong start. Anderson’s scoreboard flashed a winning 6.619 at 208.94 mph to a 6.602 with an identical 208.94.
 
The victory set the stage for a repeat of last year’s final at Route 66 Raceway, when Anderson forfeited the win to Erica Enders-Stevens. Again, Anderson was first off the starting line, and his .002-second advantage was the deciding factor in his 6.662 to 6.660 win. The margin of victory was an incredible .0008-second, and with No. 1 qualifier Mike Edwards waiting in the wings, Anderson took a breath and steadily continued the charge. He wheeled his Summit Racing Camaro off the starting line with a psychic .002-second reaction and parlayed the tremendous advantage into an astonishing third consecutive holeshot win. Edwards was .076 at the starting line and a quicker but losing 6.640 at the finish line stripe.
 
“You can’t let your guard down out here at any time,” said Anderson, who moved up one position to occupy the No. 7 spot in the Pro Stock standings. “Second and third round, running Erica and Mike and not having lane choice – those were big rounds. You have to have a lot of luck to win those rounds, and I got lucky. But those were big wins for me; I haven’t had many wins like that this year. I’m realistic and I know we have to keep digging, but I’ve got to be happy about those wins.”
 
The charge came to an end in the final round of eliminations, when Anderson’s starting line advantage wasn’t quite enough against challenger Jeg Coughlin. Anderson was out of the gate first with a respectable .027 light to Coughlin’s .036, but he soon fell into tire shake and had to give up the run. Coughlin turned on the win light, 6.603 to 11.680.
 
“I think we had a lot of luck today, and even though we had a decent day, the reality is that we still have a lot of work to do to get our Summit Racing Camaros living up to their potential,” said Anderson. “I ran very well during qualifying, and that definitely put a smile on all of our faces over here in the KB Racing camp. Today, though, I was a little disappointed. I was happy to get the win light three times today, but it didn’t quite happen the way we wanted it to. We just weren’t able to get near where we were yesterday – there was a little bit of extra heat and sun on the racetrack and that crossed us up again. We are working to make sure that doesn’t continue.”
 
The final round in Joliet was the third consecutive final for Anderson at the event. Notably, Anderson was challenged at Route 66 Raceway for most of his career, and it was the only venue on the NHRA tour where he had not won before he closed the deal in 2011.
 
“It was the one I couldn’t get for a long time,” said Anderson. “But it’s a great racetrack, one where you can consistently go out there and make good, quality runs. I’ve raced quite a lot of years at this place, and nowadays it’s a lot of fun to come out here.
 
“What happened here this weekend is a morale booster, nobody on this team is going to leave here dragging their lip. The bottom line is that we did this as a team, and that’s good. A lot of good happened today, and we have to build off of that. Right now, I’m glad we go to Norwalk next week. The more we’re on the track, the better we’ll be.”