NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

With his Pro Stock victory at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil, Greg Anderson tied Warren Johnson for the class lead in victories at 97. NHRA historian and statistician Bob Frey took a deep dive into the numbers that make up their totals.

SOME KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Anderson reached 75 wins in 157 fewer events. To be fair, Anderson was a hired gun in a good car almost from the beginning of his career, winning in just his third season, and Johnson built and fielded his own cars to learn the ropes and raced for 11 years before scoring his first win.
• Anderson's better winning percentage (70% to 63%) is probably also vindictive of the lumps W.J. took early in his career.
• Johnson's better No. 1 qualifier, low e.t., and top speed stats probably reflect the power gap of the top four teams at the height of W.J.'s glory days versus the parity of the modern era.
• Pro Stock teams were a dime a dozen from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, hence Johnson faced more different drivers, but Anderson was unbeatable against 47% of them versus Johnson's 42% mark.
• Although Anderson owned a more than 2-to-1 edge in head-to-head meetings, Anderson beat Johnson in just two final rounds (2004 Winternationals and 2007 Southern Nationals), and W.J.won beat his protege three times in final rounds: 1999 U.S. Nationals, 2003 Southern Nationals, and 2006 Phoenix.