Anderson Wins Summit Racing NHRA Nationals in Norwalk
NORWALK, Ohio, July 5, 2015 – On Sunday at Summit Motorsports Park, Greg Anderson accomplished exactly what he set out to do when he scored the victory at the 9th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk. Anderson, powering the red Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, earned the 78th national event trophy of his career with a final-round defeat of Drew Skillman. It was the third win for Anderson in Norwalk and the fourth of the season for the driver who took over the points lead following the second round of eliminations at his sponsor’s event.
“We came here with high hopes, and we wanted to do so good in front of the Summit Racing folks,” said Anderson. The Summit Racing Equipment headquarters are not too far from the Norwalk facility and are located in Tallmadge. “So it was a pretty good day at the office today. You put a lot of pressure on yourself, but we love that pressure. We went through qualifying and just didn’t feel like we had done a good job, but we knew we had to rebound and put our heads together overnight, and we got it right today.”
Anderson, starting from the No. 7 position, beat Allen Johnson in the first round on Sunday with a 6.553-second pass at 211.76 mph to AJ’s 6.592, 210.47. The margin of victory was a slim .012-second, and the speedy time was second quickest of the round, behind only Summit Racing teammate Jason Line. Notably, Anderson’s win light came on in in his 900th round of racing, and only 11 drivers have contested 900 rounds or more in NHRA competition.
The round win sent the four-time NHRA Pro Stock champion to the second stanza in Norwalk, where he recorded low elapsed time of the round, 6.575, 211.46, to put Jonathan Gray and his 6.620, 210.11 on the trailer. In doing so, Anderson regained control of the points lead, which he most recently held through the Englishtown and Epping races – both of which he won. His Summit Racing Camaro was just getting warmed up, and Anderson came to the semifinals and laid down a 6.594, 211.83 to easily send Chris McGaha and his slowing 8.841 packing.
Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, the KB Racing team put together a winning package and sent Anderson to the 123rd final round of his career and seventh of the season, where he squared off with Drew Skillman – the driver he beat in the second round en route to the Epping win just three weeks earlier. Anderson was .022 at the tree to Skillman’s .026-second reaction time, and he kept the edge for a 6.592, 212.19 win to his opponent’s 6.594, 211.43. The margin of victory was just .006-second.
“We raced like we are capable of racing today, and I feel proud to be part of this Summit Racing team,” said Anderson. “We have a great group here with Rob Downing and Mike Edwards calling the shots on the cars and Jason and I driving. These are good times, and I’m having a ball with it. Pro Stock is a dogfight every week, and you feel fantastic at the end of the day if you can find a way to conquer it. If you can win your sponsor’s event, it doesn’t get any better than that. I just feel happy. I feel proud. It’s great to have the folks from Summit Racing here to share this with us. To have them here pulling for you, to come by and spend their time with you and cheer for you, I just can’t explain how much it means to us. It means the world, and that’s what got us to the winner’s circle today, without a doubt.”