Anderson Eager to Kick Off Championship Chase on Home Turf
Mooresville, N.C., September 11, 2013 – This weekend marks a shift into high gear for competitors in NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series as the sixth annual Carlyle Tools NHRA Carolina Nationals launch the 2013 Countdown to the Championship, the six-race run for the coveted series title. Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson is entering the Countdown as the No. 7 seed, and he hopes to immediately set himself apart from the pack as a fearsome player. With a notable history at zMAX Dragway, the Mooresville, N.C.-based four-time world champ is starting the chase with statistics on his side.
“The KB Racing shop is just right around the corner in Mooresville, and have done a lot of testing here,” said Anderson, whose three Charlotte wins tie him with fellow Pro Stock competitor Mike Edwards as the driver with the most titles earned at the premier facility. “In the beginning, we kind of struggled with this racetrack, and so we devoted ourselves to figuring it out. It’s very important to the Summit Racing team to do well here in front of our whole crew and their families. These are the guys who put in the blood, sweat and tears every day, and they don’t get to travel to all the races across the country. This is a chance for them to see the product they work so hard on in action. We want to do well for them and make them proud, as well as all of our family and relatives and neighbors and friends.
“It adds a lot of what some might call pressure, but I call it excitement. It’s just a big, supportive group, and if there is ever such a thing as that intangible ‘home-court advantage,’ this is it for us. You have to make the most of it, and luckily, we’ve been able to do that.”
Anderson will begin the weekend on Thursday night with the annual B.R.A.K.E.S. Benefit Dinner, a gala fundraiser to support B.R.A.K.E.S., a non-profit organization whose mission is to prevent injuries and save lives by training and educating teenage drivers and their parents about the importance of safe and responsible driving (putonthebrakes.com).
On Friday, the Countdown to the Championship will officially begin, and Anderson, who has finished in the semifinals in each of the most recent four events, is looking to go two steps further.
“We aren’t going in seeded where we would have liked,” admitted Anderson. “We’re starting a little bit behind the eight ball, and that puts extra emphasis on the first race for the KB Racing team. We cannot afford to go out and make a bad start. We have to make up some ground this weekend with our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros. You can’t wait or you’ll run out of time. It’s got to happen for us this weekend, and I feel great about our chance of excelling. We’ve put in a lot of time at zMAX Dragway in the last few weeks testing, the weather looks great and is playing into our hands, and I think the deck is set. Now it just comes down to executing, and Team Summit is very capable of getting the job done.”
