Event:  24th annual Dollar General NHRA Summernationals

Location: Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, Kansas

Day/Date: Saturday, May 19, 2012

Summit Racing Pontiac Greg Anderson completed a strong qualifying effort in impressive fashion on Saturday, posting the quickest elapsed time of the fourth and final session at the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kan.  With two sessions held in the heat of the day at Heartland Park Topeka, Anderson’s 6.624-second time from Friday night, which came with a track record top speed of 208.55 mph, remained his run of record and earned him the second starting position for Sunday’s final eliminations.

Even so, Anderson was equally pleased with his 6.633-second, 207.37 mph pass in the heat of the afternoon on Saturday.  Armed with a consistent and fast race car, the four-time champion heads into race day and his first round encounter with Richard Freeman cautiously optimistic about his chances of scoring a fifth Heartland Park Topeka win.

“I am happier after qualifying today than I’ve been at any race all year,” said Anderson.  “I don’t know why, but my Summit Racing Pontiac has suddenly come to life. My opinion is that it’s scared that I’m going to retire it, because we certainly haven’t made any major changes to it.  I may not fully understand why it’s happened, but I’m glad it did.

“The good news is that we’re going to have a really good hot rod tomorrow.  We’ve had two good days of qualifying, made four solid runs and scored bonus points in all four sessions, which is a major improvement.  We’ve had a great car so far this weekend, and tomorrow we need to do something with it.

Event:  24th annual Dollar General NHRA Summernationals

Location: Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, Kansas

Day/Date: Saturday, May 19, 2012

On the strength of a 6.630-second time posted in second qualifying session on Friday evening, Jason Line and the Summit Racing team earned the third starting position for Sunday’s final eliminations of the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kan.  Although the elevated temperatures on Saturday at Heartland Park Topeka prevented any changes among the top six positions in the Pro Stock category, Line continued his torrid pace, topping the charts in the third session with his 6.635-second, 206.13 mph pass, before wrapping up with a competitive 6.650-second, 207.02 mph run on his fourth and final attempt.

This marks the 16th straight race in which Line has secured a starting spot in the Top Three positions, dating back to the Seattle race last August.  With a first-round matchup set against No. 14 qualifier Steve Kent, the reigning Full Throttle Champion looked to use this performance to propel him to his first win at the Kansas quarter-mile.

Event:  24th annual Dollar General NHRA Summernationals

Location: Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, Kansas

Day/Date: Friday, May 18, 2012

Greg Anderson received a pleasant surprise during Friday’s opening qualifying sessions for the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kan., as his Summit Racing Pontiac delivered its most consistent first day performance of the 2012 season.  After posting the third-quickest time in afternoon session, the four-time Topeka winner picked up almost three hundredths of a second in the evening round, with his 6.624-second, 208.55 mph pass slotting him in the second position with two attempts remaining on Saturday.

Although naturally pleased with this solid showing, Anderson was also surprised as in previous races he and his KB Racing team had struggled to find a consistent handle in qualifying, offering his own reasons for this sudden return to form.

“I am absolutely shocked at how well my Summit Racing Pontiac ran today,” joked Anderson.  “I actually think it’s because it knows this is probably its last race before we switch to our new Chevy Camaros and it wants us to reconsider.

“Today was very different from the rest of the season because we had been struggling in qualifying and today it wanted to run in both sessions, which is a different feeling for me on Friday, and one I am very happy with.  The car is showing a lot of potential – we didn’t make perfect runs with the car, but the motor ran really well, and I think, given the right conditions, it’s capable of going to the pole.

Event:  24th annual Dollar General NHRA Summernationals

Location: Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, Kansas

Day/Date: Friday, May 18, 2012

Summit Racing driver Jason Line opened his qualifying effort for the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kan. in the same manner he has started every race this season, posting some of the quickest times among the 23 cars making an attempt.  On his first run at Heartland Park Topeka, the reigning Pro Stock champion covered the quarter-mile in 6.646-seconds with a top speed of 207.50 mph, best among the “factory hot rods”.

He followed that performance with an equally impressive run in the evening session, improving to a 6.630-second time and 207.11 mph top speed, good enough for third midway through the qualifying procedure, a showing which has Line cautiously optimistic about his chances for the remainder of the weekend.

Mooresville, N.C., May 15, 2012 – This weekend, Summit Racing driver Jason Line will head to Topeka, Kansas looking to accomplish two goals with one primary action.  Naturally, as he does at every stop on the Full Throttle Drag Racing circuit, he enters this weekend’s Dollar General NHRA Summernationals with full intentions of winning.  Should he do so, it will not only be his second victory of the 2012 season, but also his first professional win at Heartland Park Topeka, adding to his successes achieved there in the sportsman ranks.

“Heartland Park Topeka and I have a long history together,” said Line.  “In fact, I raced my Stocker at the first event held there, when they were still pouring concrete when we rolled through the gates.  I also won a points meet in Topeka.  But for reasons I can’t quite explain, that success has yet to translate over to my Pro Stock car, something we’re more than ready to change.

“If there ever was a time that we had a car capable of winning the race, it would have to be right now.   My Summit Racing Pontiac has been extremely strong all year, so I feel there is a good possibility we are going fix any issues we’ve had with Kansas in the past this weekend.”

However, the reigning Pro Stock champion knows his path to the Heartland Park Topeka winner’s circle will include challenges beyond mastering the racing surface, whose tricky nature will only be magnified by the warm temperatures forecast for this weekend.  In addition to another tightly packed Pro Stock field, Line and his KB Racing crew will need to deliver the same consistent performance on race day that they have shown in qualifying, where their four No. 1 qualifying positions double those of their nearest competitor.

After seven races, Line’s record in 2012 is something most of his rivals would aspire to, with one win in two final round appearances, four finishes of the semifinals or better and a second-place positioning in the Full Throttle standings (behind only his teammate Greg Anderson).  Even so, with improvement still possible, the quiet-spoken North Carolina racer continues to set his expectations at a very high level.

“The way things have gone this year, it would almost be better if we raced on Saturday (when qualifying is normally held),” joked Line.  “Obviously to win this weekend, we will need a total effort, with four good runs, four good lights and no mistakes, which we haven’t been able to do since Phoenix.  We’ve been close to getting it done, including Atlanta two weeks ago, but just came up a hundredth shy against our teammate in the final.

Mooresville, N.C., May 15, 2012 – Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing team are looking for history to repeat itself this weekend at the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kansas.  During the period from 2003 to 2007, the Anderson-led crew was virtually unstoppable at Heartland Park Topeka, with three No. 1 qualifying performances and four wins, one shy of the all-time Pro Stock mark at the Kansas quarter-mile held by Warren Johnson.  Although they have been in contention in their subsequent visits, the four-time champion heads into this event hoping to experience a little déjà vu.

“We’re heading into this weekend looking to rekindle some of the magic this Summit Racing team had with Heartland Park Topeka in the past,” said Anderson.  “We seem to have misplaced it over the last few years, but we’re ready to get it back and return to the form that saw us win there four times.

“The first few years we went there, we considered it one of the super tracks and saw numerous records set there, especially in the fuel classes because the surface was so good.  It’s got some age on it now, and the track has become a little more finicky, putting it in the hands of the crew chiefs.

“It’s a real challenge, a lot like Darlington Raceway in NASCAR, in that it’s very tough to tame, which is the way it should be.  They shouldn’t all be perfect surfaces that are easy to tune for.  When the heat comes on that Topeka track, as is forecast for this weekend, it becomes a handful, turning it into a tuner’s race, so we’ll need to be at our best starting with the first qualifying session on Friday.”

A look at his season to date supports Anderson’s optimistic outlook for this weekend.  Seven races into the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule, he leads the Pro Stock category by 72 points over his teammate Jason Line.  In addition, he is the only competitor among the “factory hot rods” with multiple victories, having scored his third win in Atlanta ten days ago.  However, as the self-proclaimed perfectionist admits, unlike previous years, this season’s success is mostly due to the grit and determination of the KB Racing crew rather than their race car’s performance.  Although naturally pleased with the final results, he knows that maintaining their position atop the standings must include a return to form.

“I have no idea how we have gotten three wins and five final round appearances this year,” joked Anderson.  “Who knows, maybe because we seem to struggle in qualifying, no one expects a lot from us in final eliminations, but somehow this Summit Racing team keeps getting the job done on race day, more than holding our own with what we have to work with.

“We just seem to have a love/hate relationship with this particular car, and we continue to work on swinging it more into the love side.  She’s a feisty one, fighting us every step of the way, but this KB Racing crew is also a bunch of fighters, throwing everything we can at her.  So far I’d have to call it a draw, and as long as we keep finding ways to win races, I’m good with that.

“As I said after we won Atlanta, I think our success this season comes down to our making fewer mistakes than our opponents.  Even though we haven’t always been the baddest dog on the planet, somehow the people we’ve raced have made mistakes, which you cannot do in this class if you expect to win.  The bottom line is that we keep racing tough, focusing on every little detail and finding ways to capitalize on our competitors’ mistakes.