Summit Racing–Anderson Encouraged as a Corner is Turned in Denver

Anderson Encouraged as a Corner is Turned in Denver

DENVER, Colo., July 20, 2014 – Greg Anderson had a weekend to remember at Denver’s Bandimere Speedway at the 35th annual Mile-High NHRA Nationals. Anderson didn’t walk away with the win at the picturesque facility, but the 74-time NHRA national event victor did leave the event with a fresh infusion of optimism following a collection of runs that marked his best performance of the season to date. He also gained more valuable points towards breaking into the top 10 in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series standings.

During qualifying, Anderson was a top player as he raced to a start from the No. 5 position based on a 6.937-second run at 198.44 mph that was surrounded by a collection of pleasing passes down the water-cooled quarter-mile dragstrip. It was his best start of the season and came with lane choice in a first-round meeting with Matt Hartford on Sunday. Anderson has driven with an edge at each event this year, and the Denver race was certainly no different as he blasted off the starting line in .019-second and then powered emphatically past his opponent to grab a holeshot win, 6.976 at 197.94 to 6.971, 198.12.

With the round win and 20 more points in his pocket, Anderson advanced to a second-round meeting with Jeg Coughlin, and again he was all business as he coolly recorded a .011 reaction to nab an early lead. His opponent was able to power ahead and turn on the win light, 6.944 to 6.971, but the early ending could not erase the obvious progress made by Team Summit.

“We were very excited to have made such gains and shown them here in Denver during qualifying,” said Anderson, who is No. 11 in the standings and just 23 outside of tenth place. “This is not an easy place to race for these Pro Stock cars because of the high altitude conditions, but we did very well, and I’m very happy. I came into Sunday thinking I had a car that could win, and that is a great feeling that you always want to have. We have that now, and I have a lot of confidence that the gains that we’ve made will carry through to Sonoma next week and then beyond. We’ve tapped into something now. We did our homework, we worked hard, and we feel good.

“The car slowed down a little bit on Sunday, but with what we’ve learned in the last week or so, we feel really positive about the rest of the season. Things went very well for the Summit Racing team this weekend, and today was a stumble, but the big picture is very good. We have definitely turned a corner.”