Greg Anderson Locks Down 131st Career No. 1 at NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas
Greg Anderson and his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro enter raceday at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals on the heels of a solid qualifying effort that culminated in his 131st No. 1 and a 13th low qualifier award earned at the prestigious Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Anderson also picked up six bonus points in his quest to win a sixth world title in the challenging category of NHRA Pro Stock, and with only the Las Vegas event and the season-closing NHRA Finals remaining, the value of every point is magnified.
“The intensity is absolutely ratcheted up. No question about it, it’s now or never,” said Anderson. “Get ‘er done tomorrow or go home. Your season is either going to be alive tomorrow or it’s going to be over, and I don’t want mine to be over.”
Anderson opened qualifying with a 6.618-second pass at 204.98 mph in his KB Titan-Racing powered HendrickCars.com entry, and that set him in the No. 4 spot. He came back in the later session on Friday with a real stunner; the 6.597, 207.02 that popped up on the scoreboard launched him to the top of the pack with a chance to secure a second consecutive No. 1 and seventh on the season. Saturday dawned overcast but with similar air, and he surpassed his previous best with a best-of-the-session 6.596, 206.89 for three more bonus points. Although qualifying closed on a not-so-nice note with a run that simply did not meet expectations, Anderson’s position at the top was secure.
“We learned that we’re not going to be perfect every time down this racetrack,” said Anderson, whose ability to learn and adapt has manifested 105 Pro Stock wins over his career and made him the most winning driver in the history of the category.
“We had three great runs before the last one, and that’s what we’re going to think about now, and we’re going to come out tomorrow with a lot of confidence that my racecar is going to be great. It’s been on point for two days straight, but it’s going to be a hell of a battle. There are guys with blood in their eyes, and it’s going to be awesome, it’s just going to be awesome.”
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has historically been a great race for Anderson, who was tapped by Las Vegas businessman Ken Black to drive a Pro Stock car and form a team more than two decades ago. In addition to eight event trophies earned in Las Vegas since that time, Anderson has scored a plethora of hardware in the Horsepower Challenge, a bonus event formerly held at the facility.
Anderson will need to call on a little bit of that Las Vegas magic on Sunday and rake in as many round wins as possible in his HendrickCars.com Chevy. He’s in the thick of the championship chase, 90 points behind points leader and teammate Dallas Glenn, with Aaron Stanfield between, 53 points out of first. Defending Pro Stock titlist Erica Enders is trailing Anderson by 21 marks.
The six bonus points he earned during qualifying will be added to the pile, but Anderson is focused on the big goal right now: win the race, get all the points, and arrive at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals with two KB Titan Racing cars in the hunt.
“Obviously, the [bonus points] are great, and who knows what it’ll come down to, but I’m looking at raceday; that’s where you get the big points,” said Anderson. “Those round wins are 20-a-pop, and that’s big. I need four of those 20-point rounds to get back in the game and have a chance going into Pomona. Hopefully I wake up on the right side of the bed, feel like an 18-year-old, and go out there and drive like one.
“What’s most important to me right now is finding a way for KB Titan to win the championship. Hopefully, we have two great cars going into Pomona that are alive for the championship. That’s what I want. That’s my dream right now.”
Eliminations for the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals are set to begin at 1 a.m. MST on Sunday, Nov. 3.
This story was originally published on November 3, 2024.
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