NHRA News: Battle to rewrite the record books rages on (10/26/2004)

Battle to rewrite the record books rages

10/26/2004

Greg Anderson

John Force won 13 Funny Car races over the course of a 19-event NHRA season in 1996, establishing what many perceived as an unreachable entry in the record books. Force is having another outstanding year in 2004 and only needs to qualify at Las Vegas to clinch his unequaled 13th NHRA POWERade Funny Car world championship.

But while Force adds to his own all-time NHRA marks, he's sharing space in the editing room with another racer who has taken a fancy to rewriting history: Greg Anderson. The Pro Stock ace just wrapped up his second consecutive championship and is now looking to add some icing to the cake. Like Force, Anderson earned 13 wins in 19 races this year, but he's now looking to raise that bar to new heights in the last two races of the season.

Anderson is set to battle nearly 40 Pro Stock entries during this weekend's fourth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kenny Bernstein, Tony Pedregon, Anderson, and Craig Treble are the defending winners of the $1.8 million race. It is the 22nd of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Force and Greg Anderson, with wife Kim, have become fast friends as the race into the record books.
Racers Edge Photography

The all-time mark for wins in a season is just one of several records that Anderson can reset before the end of the year. He already has the most final round appearances (17) and most No. 1 qualifiers (15, tied with Warren Johnson's 1999 season). He has posted a 68-8 eliminations record for the season, clearing his 67-11 record from 2003. But what Anderson wants most is win No. 14.

"Just to be tied with John Force for the win record is quite an accomplishment and it is something I am very proud of," Anderson said. "But we have two races left and I think if anything, this team is more than capable of pulling out another win this season. The competition right now is tough and everyone will be looking for one more win this season, but I think win No. 14 would be a career highlight for sure."

Anderson knows a little something about The Strip in Las Vegas. He earned the victory at the spring event at the same track and won both events in 2003. His team owner, Ken Black of Vegas General Construction, is a native of Las Vegas.

"Ken always brings a lot of his employees, friends, and family to the race so we always try our best to make it fun for the entire KB Racing team," Anderson said. "We've done well at that track. It's become one of my favorite stops on the schedule because we've had success in our performance on the track and we always enjoy going to a great city like Las Vegas."

On the day that Force can clinch his 13th championship, Anderson can increase yet another record – largest margin of victory in the overall championship chase. Force needs to just qualify for the 16-car field in order to earn his record-setting title. Anderson has a 702-point lead over second-place Jason Line, well over the category-best mark he set last season (463 over Kurt Johnson), and Force's all-time mark of 636 points over Tony Pedregon in 1996.

"Maybe that's a good sign of things to come. If Force can clinch a championship, maybe it's the best time to set the win record," Anderson said. "That way he won't even notice what we're doing over in Pro Stock and we can sneak out of there with No. 14."

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