Greg Anderson Pockets Texas Motorplex Bonus, Nabs Provisional Pole at NHRA FallNationals

Friday night at Texas Motorplex was a rollercoaster ride for Greg Anderson and his KB Titan Racing (KBT) team. After claiming the provisional pole in the first round of qualifying with a quick and fast HendrickCars.com Chevrolet that has won in Dallas six times before, Anderson drove to an even quicker pass in the later session to head into the second day of qualifying in the top spot.
 
“I love coming here, I absolutely love it,” said Anderson, who not only scored the provisional pole, but also a $7,500 bonus check courtesy of Texas Motorplex and a certificate for a brand new pair of Corral Boots. “It’s all the Meyer family. Billy and his daughter Christy, they make it special, and that matters to us. It makes you rise to the next level.”
 
It was not all peaches and cream, though, for the KB Titan Racing team as Eric Latino crashed his GESi Chevrolet as Anderson was buckling in for his own run. Latino’s KBT-powered Chevy got out of the groove and sashayed across the centerline before hitting the wall mid-roll, tipping onto the roof, and then sliding in a flurry of flame and sparks down-track. Latino was uninjured and exited the car of his own accord.
 
During the cleanup, conditions cooled and a big run was ripe for the picking – but balancing the desire to reclaim the pole (which had landed in the hands of Erica Enders earlier in the session) while pushing into a tricky track was going to be a challenge. Anderson managed it perfectly, flying straight down the groove to a 6.524-second run at 208.99 mph. Anderson wrenched the top spot back with a pass that was .002-second quicker than Enders and claimed a total of six bonus points for the day.
 
“We got it down by two-thousandths, and how fitting; that’s the battle we’ve been having lately,” said Anderson. “It’s who makes the sweetest, most perfect run. I told everybody it was going to take a 6.52 to get that bonus check tonight, and [Enders] did it second pair out. That was pretty mean. I knew that was the target and it was going to be close, and it certainly was.
 
“It was a crazy, crazy night with Eric having a mishap there. Thank God he’s alright, but that was ugly. I had a longtime to think and watch. I try to be strong in the mind, but I can’t tell you how many times going down the racetrack I said to myself, ‘Do not let this thing get out of the groove like Eric did. Don’t do anything dumb. If it gets out of the groove, you have to lift, don’t worry about the cash.’ Fortunately, we were able to keep her in the center of the racetrack and got the check. It ended up to be a great night in Texas.”
 
Entering the event, Anderson was No. 4 in the Pro Stock standings and well within reach of securing a sixth world title – but the drivers ahead of him have been strong and steady as well, making the Countdown to the Championship playoffs a very tight affair. KB Titan Racing’s Dallas Glenn is leading the charge, while Aaron Stanfield is 31 marks behind him in second. Enders is 90 points back in third, and Anderson is 116 points from the top. That’s before final qualifying points – including bonus marks – have been calculated, and Anderson picked up six extra on Friday as low of the round in both sessions.
 
“Those bonus points mean everything,” said Anderson. “It’s going to be extremely hard to make up ground on any one of them, let alone all three [of the drivers ahead in points]. They’re not making mistakes. They’re racing error free, and they’re fast. I’m not in a great spot, but I’m not going to give up. I’m going to keep trying. So far so good on the bonus points, those can go a long way. You just never know what’s going to happen on Sunday, it’s going to be very hot out there and different than what we just saw out there tonight. That was fun, but Sunday it’s going to be ‘Grit your teeth every run and hope you make it off the starting line.’
 
“Fortunately, we did such a good job tonight that we can completely switch gears tomorrow and not worry about how fast we run. We can try to come up with a great raceday tune-up. I’m in a great spot, and it will take a he-man effort to lose it tomorrow. Mission accomplished today.”
 
Qualifying will continue on Saturday at Texas Motorplex, with final eliminations at the NHRA Texas FallNationals set to begin at noon CT on Sunday, October 13.

This story was originally published on October 12, 2024.

The post Greg Anderson Pockets Texas Motorplex Bonus, Nabs Provisional Pole at NHRA FallNationals first appeared on Drag Illustrated.