NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

It’s only April and four of NHRA’s six divisions have yet to host their first NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event of the season, but in Division 2, Jonathan Anderson is already well on his way to a probable division championship. With victories in three of the first four events, Anderson is riding an amazing hot streak that most racers could only dream about.

Anderson, of Griffin, Ga., won the season opener in Gainesville, and he scored a second title a couple of weeks later in the back half of the doubleheader weekend in Atlanta. Anderson’s year went from great to epic when he won a third title last week at the Division 2 Lucas Oil Series event at zMAX Dragway.  

“I raced all the [Division 2] races in 2014 and finished in the top 10, but I felt like I should have done better,” said Anderson. “My worst light of the year was a .033, and I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t winning. I just didn’t have a car that I could depend on, so I took most of last year off, and I told myself that I wasn’t coming back until my car was as good as I could make it. So far, it’s been perfect.”

Anderson’s car is a Pontiac Sunfire that was built by Andy Kronenbitter at PK Race Cars. It was originally raced as a Super Stock car by Division 3 racer Rich South, but Anderson; his father, John; and uncle, former Division 2 champ David Simmons, believed it would make a perfect Super Street car.

“When I won Gainesville to start the year, the car was just so good,” said Anderson. “It didn’t vary more than about 17-thousandths the whole weekend, and that just makes driving so much easier. Then, I went to Atlanta and won again. Last weekend when we got to Charlotte, it was stuck in my mind that I probably wasn’t going to go undefeated. I felt like this had to come to an end at some point, but I just kept knocking down win lights. It’s been pretty crazy.”

Thus far in 2016, Anderson has a 20-1 record in Super Street eliminations, and his one loss wasn’t really a loss; it was more of a forfeit. He reached the third round of the first Atlanta divisional event, but his car would not start, so he could only watch as opponent Morgan Speranzo Hoda made a single run.

“When they called us to the lanes, I did my normal deal,” Anderson recalled. “I checked the weather station, put fuel in the car, checked the tires, and when I got in the car, it wouldn’t start. It turns out that we had a bad ignition. That was frustrating. It counts as a loss, but to me it wasn’t really a loss. After we won the second race in Atlanta, I told my wife on the way home, we still haven’t gotten beat yet.”

During his most recent win at zMAX Dragway last weekend, Anderson accomplished another feat that he previously thought was not possible when he locked up a spot at the JEGS Allstars event later this summer in Chicago. Even though he missed two qualifying races last year, Anderson was able to score enough points with his hot start to clinch a spot for the prestigious event. Anderson clinched the spot following a wire-to-wire race against Division 1 champ Shawn Fricke that was decided by just six-thousandths at the finish line.

“I knew what was at stake that round, and I also looked over and saw that I had to race the Division 1 champ, so there was a lot of pressure,” said Anderson. “When I left, I thought I crushed it, and I did with a .004 light, but Shawn had a .002. I was about a foot ahead of him near the finish line, but then he dropped, and I dropped with him. It just happened to work out in my favor. That was maybe the biggest round I’ve had all year. I can’t wait for the JEGS Allstars. Going into this season, I didn’t have a clue that I could ever make it, but after Atlanta, I got a call from [fellow Super Street racer] Lamar Stevenson, and he told me I was only 17 points out of first place. I’m on top of the world about going to that race.”

Anderson isn’t the type who likes to count points, but in this case, he’s done the basic arithmetic in his head, and he realizes that barring a big upset, he is going to be crowned the 2016 NHRA Southeast Division Super Street champion. After four events, Anderson has 367 points, and he’ll add at least 30 to that score even if he doesn’t win another round the rest of the season.

“I don’t want to say that I’ve got anything locked up, but I have run the scenario, and I’m pretty sure I’m more than 100 points ahead of the next guy,” he said. “I still have four races where I can improve, so I think I’m doing OK. Going into this season, my goal was just to finish in the top three in the division. I never expected anything like this.”

There are three more Southeast Division Lucas Oil Series races remaining this season at GALOT Motorsports Park; Silver Dollar Raceway, which is Anderson’s home track; and the season finale at Rockingham Dragway, so it remains a possibility that Anderson could join a short list of racers who have finished with a perfect score in divisional competition.

“I’m not really even thinking about that, but it would be something if it happened,” said Anderson. “I really have to give a lot of the credit to Andy Kronenbitter, who built this car. It is easily the best race car I’ve ever sat in, even better than my Super Comp dragster. It just runs the number every time. I also owe a lot of thanks to my dad, John; my wife, Melissa; David Simmons; David Tatum III; Sherman Adcock Jr.; Brad Plourd; Kevin Kleineweber of Hughes Performance; John Kyle and Joe Hessling of APD; and Gary Heuer of #1 Stop. They’ve all helped out a lot.”