NHRA News: Anderson wins $50,000 King Demon Crown by .0001 seconds (5/29/2004)

Anderson wins $50,000 King Demon Crown by .0001 seconds

By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
5/29/2004

Greg Anderson

By a margin of one-ten-thousandths of a second, less than half an inch, Greg Anderson won the $50,000 King Demon Crown over Dave Connolly Saturday at Heartland Park Topeka. After giving up an enormous .031 to .088-second head start, Anderson's Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am charged back to win by the smallest margin of victory in motorsports.

"Obviously, I'm living my life right," Anderson said. "Everything that could go right for me this year has fallen my way. I couldn't wait to get to this race. This is our biggest paycheck of the year and I felt like I let it slip through my fingers last year against Kurt [Johnson.] The extra week we had to wait only made it worse.

"We're actually struggling a little this weekend. We're not really on top of our game. There's problems getting speed out of this car and we're not sure where they're coming from. Thank God we were able to put enough out there to get by Dave. There's a kid who is going to be a handful for many years to come. He is absolutely killer on the tree every week.

"What a drag race. I was afraid to look over. I knew I was behind and the car shook on every gear change. I finally took a peek at 1,000 feet and it looked like I was behind. Then we got past the scoreboards and the win light in my lane was on.

"Another $50,000 from Barry Grant, what can I say? I feel like I'm on his payroll."

Competing in just his second King Demon Crown race, Anderson followed up last year's runner-up finish with a wire-to-wire job this year. His hot rod was the quickest of each round as he methodically dismissed Allen Johnson with a 6.80, Bruce Allen with a 6.81, and Dave Connolly with a 6.90. The first two rounds of this year's King Demon Crown took place last weekend in Chicago. The final was delayed twice and eventually rescheduled until this event.

The money round didn't feature the big numbers of a week ago due to sunny conditions and a strong headwind, but with so much money on the line it was still exciting for the fans. Entering the race as a clear-cut favorite, Anderson trailed his young rival at every timer, taking the decision only at the final electronic timer, 6.907 to 6.964. It was far too close to call on instant replay.

Anderson stands to make another $25,000 with the NHRA's "Double-Up" Bonus if he can follow up this victory with a win in Sunday's 16th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX.

The King Demon Crown event pits the top eight Pro Stock qualifiers from the previous 12 months against one another for a $50,000 top prize. In all, $76,000 was handed out Saturday. The total payout for the series is $145,000, which includes a $3,000 bonus to each event's top qualifier. Overall, Anderson claimed $104,000 of the pot.

To qualify for the King Demon Crown, racers try to earn between 175 and 85 points per event depending on what qualifying position they earn. If a racer fails to qualify for any event, he earns zero points at that particular race.

Barry Grant, the Pro Stock racer who owns and operates King Demon Crown carburetors, handed out the prize money to an appreciative group of racers. Aside from Anderson's $50,000 top prize, Connolly was awarded $10,000 for being the event's runner-up, Allen and Jeg Coughlin each pocketed $3,000 for their semifinal finishes, while A. Johnson, Warren Johnson, Kurt Johnson, and Mike Edwards earned $2,500 apiece for their first-round showings.

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