Anderson Powerful on Raceday at SummitRacing.com Nationals
LAS VEGAS, Nev., April 12, 2015 – Greg Anderson had the quickest and fastest racecar on the property on Sunday at the 16th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, and the driver of the red Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro had the field’s attention at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Starting from the No. 3 position, Anderson had low e.t. and top speed through each round of competition in an impressive display of KB Racing horsepower. Although stopped just short of reaching the final round at his sponsor’s main event, Anderson and Team Summit are confident that their Chevy Camaro has a bright future on the 2015 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour.
Anderson’s qualifying position was his best since the Brainerd event in 2013, and he came into raceday on a fierce tear with a second 2015 trophy directly in his line of vision. In the first round of eliminations, Anderson expertly wheeled his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to a .019-second reaction time followed by a 6.650-second pass at 208.49 mph to send a tire-chattering Jonathan Gray home. With lane choice, Anderson advanced to round two, where he was again strong at the starting line. His .022 reaction time was paired with a 6.655, 208.17 to halt another shaken competitor, V. Gaines, who mustered a 21.477.
It turned on a dime, though, when Anderson came up against Erica Enders-Stevens in the semifinals.
“Everything was going along swimmingly,” said Anderson. “I was confident and felt great; everything was just wonderful. But something just happened there, and the tree just wouldn’t come on. It just took forever once it did, and somehow, subconsciously, I just shut down and completely missed the light.”
As one of the best leavers in the category and a driver with many holeshot wins to his credit – particularly over the past year – Anderson’s .055-second reaction time was hugely uncharacteristic. Enders-Stevens had been .050 at the tree the round before, but her lucky .001 in the semis was the nail in the coffin. The win light came on in her lane with a 6.673, 207.53 to Anderson’s quicker and faster 6.671, 208.71.
“I wish I could have it back, but you don’t get that in drag racing. It’s sudden death every time you go up, and I made a mistake,” said Anderson. “We let a golden opportunity slip away, and that is very disappointing because we had great racecars today and we really wanted the guys here from Summit Racing to be proud of us. We appreciate all they do for us, and it sure would have been nice to get them to the winner’s circle. But the good news is that we leave Las Vegas with two really good Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros. We will go to the next race feeling very positive, and we’ll hold our heads high and do our best to make up for it at the next race and forget about this one.”
Anderson leaves the event No. 3 in the standings and still on a roll – he has been to the semifinals twice in the past four races, recorded a runner-up in Charlotte, and was the winner in Gainesville. In addition, he made a very strong start in the quest to secure a position in the 2016 K&N Horsepower Challenge. This year, Anderson just missed participating in the shootout style event that took place on Saturday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals. He leaves Las Vegas No. 3 in the Challenge points.
“It’s very important for me to get into that race,” said a determined Anderson. “I love that race, and I really didn’t like being on the sidelines like I was this time. I would have had a great chance at winning it this time around, and I just need to continue to qualify well throughout the year to make sure we are in and in good. We got off to a great start here this weekend, and we feel very confident that we will get that job done. I look forward to next year’s K&N Horsepower Challenge.”