Championship Drag Racing

Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals
Atlanta, Ga.
(May 13-16)

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Greg Anderson Vegas General Construction Grand Am

Reports: Sunday Pre-race

Atlanta, Sunday: Greg Anderson etched his name into another chapter of the NHRA record book today at the 24th annual Summit Racing Southern Nationals presented by Pontiac. Anderson joined drag racing legends Bob Glidden and Ronnie Sox in becoming just the third Pro Stock driver in the history of the series to win five consecutive races after he drove his Pontiac SC/T Grand Am to a final-round victory over Larry Morgan. It was the sixth win of the season for the defending POWERade champion and Pontiac's 131st all-time victory in NHRA Pro Stock competition.

"The streaks are nice, the records are neat, but you can't focus on that stuff," said Anderson. "They are fun, but it would be arrogant of me to place too much significance on such things. From a career perspective, yes, I'm off to a good start, and if we're still going strong in five, maybe ten years, then maybe you can make the comparisons to other drivers, but not until then. The bigger picture is the 2004 POWERade championship and getting this Pontiac Grand Am in the winner's circle - those are the only things that matter right now."

Anderson came into today's eliminator qualified third, the first time in 12 races the 43-year-old Monoresville, N.C. resident has not started raceday from the lead position. During the first round of qualifying on Friday, Anderson damaged his primary GM DRCE powerplant and expedited the wounded engine back to the KB Racing shop in North Carolina for a hasty repair. Work on the damaged piece was completed late Saturday night, and it was rushed to Atlanta Dragway for installation into Anderson's Pontiac SC/T Grand Am just in time for the scheduled Sunday morning eliminator.

"We overcame a lot of hurdles this weekend," said Anderson. "We hurt that motor on the first run and sent it back to the shop. The guys there worked non-stop, all night Friday, half the day Saturday and then Jason (Line) drove back to the shop after the last qualifying session yesterday to bring it here. He ran the motor on the dyno and got it back to the track at 3 a.m. this morning. That's indicative of the kind of team I have.

"We have a terrific supporting cast that puts everything aside for team owner Ken Black and that's because of what he does for us. This is a great opportunity for everyone on this team and we want to win so doggone bad for Ken that we're ready to do whatever it takes. We put the motor back in our Grand Am this morning and it ran low e.t. of the first round. We struggled a little in qualifying with the setup of the car, and like we've showed every race, you give Rob (Downing) and Jeff (Perley) enough chances, they're going to figure it out."

Anderson defeated Mike Edwards in round one, Dave Connolly in round two, and on a holeshot in round three, squeezed past teammate Jason Line before facing Morgan in the finals. The semifinals matchup between the two Ken Black Pontiacs was decided by only .004 (thousandths) of a second, and Line's third 6.79 elapsed time of the afternoon was for naught.

In the championship round, Morgan's Dodge Stratus launched first with a lightning-quick .018 reaction time, and held the lead until the 1000-foot mark before Anderson's Pontiac pulled ahead for good. Anderson's SC/T Grand Am crossed the finish line in 6.812 seconds at a speed of 203.00 mph. Morgan's Dodge followed in 6.850 seconds at 202.50 mph. Anderson's margin of victory was .007 of a second.

It was the first win in four consecutive final rounds for Anderson at the Southern Nationals, and his 22nd career victory in 33 final-round appearances. After seven races, Anderson's lead in the NHRA Pro Stock points standings is 243 points over second-place Kurt Johnson.

"Our Pontiac Grand Am ran pretty good today, but our primary motor is still not back to where it should be," said Anderson. "We'll go through it properly this week, fix everything that is really tore up in it, and we should have it in great shape for the race next weekend in Chicago."

Atlanta, pre-race: The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing series heads to Atlanta Dragway this weekend for the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals presented by Pontiac. It is the first of three consecutive weekends in which the series will hold races, with six contests on tap over the next seven weeks.

Up until now only six races have been contested since the season opened in Pomona, Calif., on Feb. 29, and a lot will be riding on what happens during the course of the next few weeks. With the number of events and the pace of the schedule coming fast and furious, the key to success will rely heavily on diligent preparation and a little luck.

With five wins in the first six events, Greg Anderson's Pontiac Grand Am continues to lead the Pro Stock title chase. But the defending POWERade champion isn't resting on his laurels and is fully aware of how quickly the points situation can change.

"With the success we've had over the last few months, I'm certainly very proud of the team," said Anderson. "It shows you what kind of job they're doing and how hard they're working. We're doing everything we can to come out stronger every race we go to. I don't have the answer on why there's a gap right now in Pro Stock, and as soon as I think it's going to close this team keeps proving me wrong. We're not going to slow down, but I certainly expect some of these guys to pick up the pace. We're just going to enjoy this run as long as it goes."

In 28 national events since the beginning of 2003, Anderson's Pontiac has captured 17 victories and raced in 20 final rounds. Anderson has also captured 89 rounds of competition and lost only 12 times for a winning average of .881.

Anderson's Grand Am has been the No. 1 qualifier at the last 11 races in a row dating back to last September's NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill., and has also earned low qualifying honors at 20 of the last 29 national events (since the opening race of 2003). His average starting position during that time frame is 1.66.

Anderson has a keen knowledge of Atlanta Dragway acquired from his years of working with six-time NHRA champion Warren Johnson, whose race shop is located just down the road in Sugar Hill, Ga. The 43-year-old Anderson has never won at this venue although he's been runner-up and earned low qualifying honors at the last three races contested at this facility (2001, '02, 03).

"So far my team has done a better job with this Pontiac and getting the E.T. out of it," said Anderson. "If we can maintain that we'll be in good shape, but the rest of the field are making power gains as well. The bottom line is the best thing for this class is to keep going faster and faster.

"By midseason, the class will be as close and as tough as it ever was. Every year more and more teams are raising the bar where they go to that next level of performance. To win in this category you have to run it full bore, and more teams are making the effort to do that. Whatever you start with you try and get better every run and every day. I felt that we were able to do that last year and that momentum continues this season."