Route 66 Track Record Holder Anderson Racks up Bonus Points ahead of Raceday
CHICAGO, Ill., July 11, 2015 – Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing team continued to show that they had the power during qualifying at this weekend’s 18th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals at the quarter-mile dragstrip just outside of Chicago. Anderson, driver of the red Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, accumulated seven bonus qualifying points with one of the quickest cars at Route 66 Raceway, and he is prepared for a raceday start from the No. 3 position.
Anderson posted a quick 6.540-second pass at 211.83 mph in the first session of Chicago qualifying and reset the Route 66 Raceway track record for speed. Points leader Anderson finished Friday with a 6.533, 211.30 and left the racetrack with four bonus points in his pocket. Saturday brought less than hoped for conditions, and the thick air in the earlier session saw the class slow. Anderson made the quickest pass of the round, though, with a 6.554 at 210.01 that came with three more bonus points.
Ready to go for more, Anderson was halted when rain and a rising dew point necessitated a cancellation of the day’s activities. The field was set with Anderson No. 3 and lined up to race Dave River in the first round on Sunday.
“Nobody really made a quality run in the earlier session today,” said Anderson. “My KB Racing guys just did a better job than everybody else, and we were able to get those three bonus points. We had good weather – we should have been able to go to the pole, but unfortunately the racetrack just did not cooperate. Then tonight the weather just got too wet, and the dew point was too high. NHRA made the right decision to call it off. We always like as many runs as we can get because you make adjustments along the way and try to learn every run. So we’re sad we lost that last run, but we still got three quality runs and learned a lot, so I think we’re ready to go to battle tomorrow.”
Anderson has had quite a successful scorecard in the past seven races. Now a 78-time NHRA Pro Stock winner, Anderson has driven his Summit Racing Camaro to the winner’s circle four times already this year – including last weekend in Norwalk. He has been to the final round in five of the last six races.
“I feel great,” said Anderson. “You know, no matter what the conditions have been, my Summit Racing Camaro has been great. Even when it makes a bad run, it’s still fast. That’s good news to us, and it looks like the forecast will be a little hotter for tomorrow. Quite honestly, that’s played into our hands all year. That’s been a better set-up for Team Summit, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully, we can capitalize and get us another win.”