NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

With his semifinal victory over David Cuadra at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Greg Anderson became just the second Pro driver in NHRA history to record 1,000 round-wins. Sixteen-time NHRA Funny Car champ John Force was the first to reach the milestone, accomplishing it at the NHRA Midwest Nationals outside of St. Louis in May 2008.

Getting there: Anderson took 561 events to reach the milestone, about 60 more than Force, and both drivers overcame medical challenges. Force sat out the end of 2007 after his crash in Dallas, while Anderson missed the first five events of 2014 while dealing with heart issues.

Slow start: Anderson made his Pro Stock debut in 1998 but failed to qualify at his first four events (Pomona, Gainesville, Atlanta, and Richmond) before scoring his first round-win in Englishtown, where, as the No. 15 qualifier, he upset Mike Thomas in round one.

First win: Anderson’s first event win came more than three years later, in Bristol in 2001. With his final-round win over teammate Dallas Glenn in Bristol this year, Anderson now has 110 career wins, second all-time behind Force’s 157. He scored his 50th career win in Sonoma in 2007.

Killing it: Anderson's most prolific season was 2004, when he set still-standing NHRA Pro Stock records for round-wins (76) and event wins (15).

Gap years: It took Anderson nearly three years and 73 events to go from win No. 74 in mid-2012 to No. 75 in early 2015 and 17 misses to go from win No. 99 at the 2021 season finale to No. 100 at the 2022 NHRA U.S. Nationals but just eight races to win the 23 rounds this season to get from 978 at the end of 2024 to 1,001 in Bristol.

Oh brother: Ironically, Anderson scored his 1,000th round-win over David Cuadra after getting No. 900 over Cuadra's brother, Fernando Jr., four years ago at the U.S. Nationals.

What he said: “I didn’t think the 1,000th round-win would come as soon as it did,” admitted Anderson. “I remember when I tried to get my 50th race win and stalled out and couldn’t do it, and then when I finally broke the ice, I stalled at the 75th and the 100th. I kind of figured that was the way it was going to go with this, too, but these last few races, we’ve been able to rack up round-wins, and now, here we are. It’s a pretty neat deal and a pretty big feather in the cap.”

“It isn’t Greg Anderson who got all those round-wins,” he said. “It was KB Racing and now KB Titan Racing. It was Rob Downing, myself, Jason Line, and then we merged with Titan Racing Engines a few years ago, and now have all these great new teammates. The power of this team shows on the racetrack.
 
“We’re a better team than we’ve ever been, and that’s what I’m most proud of. I’ve somehow been able to surround myself with people who can make me look like a star. I don’t think I’m anything special; they’ve done that. My hat is off to everyone who’s been part of this team, to Ken Black who started it all, and to all the great sponsors we’ve had over the years, from Summit Racing Equipment to HendrickCars.com and Chevrolet. They’ve all had a hand in this. It’s not an individual honor.”