No. 3 Qualifier Anderson Well-Prepared for Sunday in Houston
HOUSTON, Texas, April 25, 2015 – Greg Anderson powered his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to a series of strong and steadily improving passes during qualifying for the 28th annual NHRA SpringNationals. Ultimately, he earned a start from the No. 3 position for the second consecutive event on NHRA’s 2015 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour, and he will have a shot at a third Houston trophy on Sunday. Anderson has previous wins at Royal Purple Raceway in 2004 and 2008.
On the first day of SpringNationals qualifying, Anderson clocked a 6.576-second pass at 211.06 mph followed by a 6.559, 211.23. Saturday was even better, with a 6.540 at 212.13 flashing on the scoreboard in the third session and then a 6.544, 211.53 to secure the No. 3 spot.
“We had a much better day today,” said Anderson, who was also the No. 3 qualifier two weeks ago at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. “We’re very happy. I kind of thought in the back of my mind that the run Shane Gray [Friday’s provisional low qualifier with a 6.536] made last night was going to be the pole and that nobody would be able to touch that, so I was really, very pleasantly surprised to see how fast we could run today. It was a neat day for Pro Stock. Everybody was very fast, but the two Summit cars were very, very fast. It’s great – we’re on opposite sides of the ladder, Jason [Line, teammate] is No. 1, I’m No. 3, and I feel great going into raceday. I think we made some gains today and that we can make more tomorrow. It should be exciting.”
Anderson will race Sweden’s Jimmy Alund, whose engines are built in the KB Racing shop in Mooresville, N.C. Although it isn’t ideal to race a teammate, Anderson recognizes the odds. In addition to Alund, KB Racing also powers this season’s K&N Horsepower Challenge finalist, Vincent Nobile.
“It’s never the way you draw it up, but when you have four cars out here, eventually you’re going to run into one of them,” said Anderson. You can’t worry about it; you just have to do the best you can. Who ever is going to win tomorrow has to beat everybody to get there. Yes, it stinks that it’s a KB Racing car, but that’s the way the cards were dealt this time, we’ll play them as we got them, and hopefully we’ll come up blackjack.”
The weather and air conditions in Houston have been exceptionally hot and muggy, with thick, water-heavy air and a difficult-to-master starting line presenting quite a challenge.
“I think it will be a little warmer tomorrow, but today was supposed to be 88 degrees and sunny and it never got anywhere near that,” said Anderson. “Who knows, but I hope it does end up being cooler than we think, just like it was today, because we’ll be faster. If that doesn’t happen, if it gets 87 or 88 degrees, then that starting line will get very tricky, and it will come down to the crew chiefs as to who can make the best run down the racetrack. It will be very interesting either way, and I’m looking forward to it. Whatever it might be, I know we can handle it.”