Anderson in the top half on day one in Englishtown
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J., May 30, 2014 – Greg Anderson was in total control as he wheeled his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro down the racetrack on the first day of qualifying at the 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown. Although many drivers experienced harsh tire shake just off the starting line, Anderson handled the right lane like a pro in his Rob Downing-tuned Camaro and raced to a 6.561 at 212.76 mph that shot him up to the top half of the field.
Unlike what has occurred during qualifying at recent events, weather was not a deciding factor when qualifying was abbreviated to just one run for the day for the Pro Stock competitors; instead, it was trouble down track with the right lane. The first session of Pro Stock was canceled and NHRA’s Safety Safari worked to repair the problem, and after much effort and a good layer of rubber laid down by the nitro cars, the factory hot rods were able to finally make a pass.
As the evening pressed on the air was cool and dry, allowing the naturally aspirated engines to thrive as the sun dipped. Anderson and teammate Jason line were two of three cars that were able to get down the right lane, and Line reset the track record for speed with a 213.40 mph blast. For Anderson, the No. 7 position is an improvement heading into the second day of the event – in each of the three events in which he has raced this season since returning to the series following heart surgery, Anderson has – surprisingly – started from the bottom of the field.
“This is the deepest starting position I’ve had in a while,” said Anderson. “It was a good start today, and we definitely got some data to work with, which doesn’t always happen when you’re the second pair out there. It sure looks like we’re doing something right with our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros here. We didn’t set the world on fire, but we know we can run a whole lot faster, and we have the data while a lot of other cars don’t. We should get two clean runs tomorrow and hopefully be able to move up in the pack. I don’t have to be first or second pair out for the first time since I’ve been back driving, and I’m deep in the pack this time so I have no excuses. I should be able to run fast and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Losing the first run on Friday wasn’t ideal, but Anderson did not have concern that the loss of the run would be a major issue when the final qualifying order was set.
“Well, we like to go down the racetrack as much as we can – we’d go down the racetrack 100 times in a weekend if we could – but one is better than none,” said Anderson. “It was a good day today, and we made fairly good use of the one run we had. We really did all we could do, and we look forward to tomorrow and climbing up the ladder.”
