Nifty Fifty: Greg Anderson Talks About his 50th Career Win

Talking Wins and Milestones with the Three-Time Champ

When Greg Anderson won the 2007 Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals in Sonoma, he joined Warren Johnson and Bob Glidden as the only NHRA Pro Stock drivers to win 50 national events. He also became just the sixth NHRA professional driver to reach the 50-win milestone and only the 10th driver overall.

And he's nowhere near finished.

In just his sixth full season, the three-time Pro Stock champion reached the historic 50-win mark in just 189 starts--second fastest to Bob Glidden's 139 starts. At 46 years young, he's already third on the all-time Pro Stock wins list and seventh on NHRA's all-time wins list for professional drivers. He owns 60 career number one qualifying positions, a Speed Channel Driver of the Year award for his record-breaking 2004 season, and oh yeah--those three POWERade Pro Stock Championship trophies.

In 2007, Anderson has earned seven victories and a spot in the new Countdown to the Championship's final eight. Although he's looking forward to battling for his fourth Pro Stock title, he agreed to take a quick look back on his 50 wins when we caught up with him at his shop in Mooresville, NC.

Summit Racing Equipment: Have you had a chance to reflect on becoming just the sixth NHRA professional driver to reach the 50-win mark?

Greg Anderson: It's pretty wild. I guess I need to go look at the list but I can pretty much guess who's on it--Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, and John Force are obviously at the top of it. Everybody on that list has been an idol of mine and just to see my name on the list next to these guys is something I never thought I could achieve. I've overachieved as far as I'm concerned. It's a neat honor but I hate to spend time worrying about it right now because I'm right in the middle of my driving career. Hopefully, I've still got a ways to go, but if things stopped tomorrow, we've got a lot to be proud of already.

SRE: You reached 50 wins in just 189 starts, so do you still have vivid memories of your first win?

Anderson: I sure do. It was Bristol 2001, and it'll always have a special place in my heart. I never thought I could win at the time, because we were kind of part-time racing and I had an old car. I drove an old Firebird when everyone else had new Pontiac Grand Ams and Chevy Cavaliers and slicker, more aerodynamic cars. I was just a part-time racer racing with my father-in-law, Troy Humphrey, and George Marnell and Ken Black. I was working for them as crew chief and driving at just six or eight national events a year. I got that first win at Bristol then followed it up with Indy that same year. I'll never forget that Bristol win though--it was a special time and a special deal. I can remember standing in the winner's circle and I didn't know what to do or say!

SRE: Is there one win that you're the most proud of?

Anderson: The Indy wins are the ones I'm proud of--without a doubt. They're the hardest to get and it seems like the competition is always elevated. Everybody brings their "A" game. It's the toughest place to win, because you've got five days instead of four days on the race track, so it's like a marathon. You're kind of shot by the time Monday rolls around. You've already had three or four days of qualifying, but you've got to find enough energy on that last day to win rounds and win a race.

SRE: Five of your wins have come at the U.S. Nationals in Indy. Why have you been so successful at that event?

Anderson: I don't have an exact answer on that. It's kind of like the NASCAR guys and the Daytona race. They just put more emphasis on that race; they look forward to it and treat it like it's their Super Bowl. We treat Indy like it's our Super Bowl. It's funny because it doesn't pay extra points any more, but when you drive through the gates and walk on the grounds, it's just a special feeling. The car counts there are huge because anybody that doesn't do the full circuit does that race, and everybody there has something special for Indy--everybody brings their "A" game. If you win Indy and don't win any other race during the season, it still makes your season. It's like two seasons in one--Indy and the rest of the races. It makes or breaks your season as far as I'm concerned.

SRE: Is there one win during your career that sticks out as the most memorable so far?

Anderson: It has to be that first Indy win in 2001. Like I said earlier, I was racing part time, had part-time help on the car, and was driving a part-time schedule. It was basically a half-funded team and to win Indy was completely unexpected. People certainly said, they'll never win again--it was a flukey, lucky deal. We ran very well that weekend and deserved to win. We had a great car all weekend and we didn't back into the win. We absolutely earned it. To realize you could win Indy on a part-time schedule with a part-time budget was quite an accomplishment. We've come back and won it several times since to prove it was no fluke, but that first time was the most memorable.

SRE: What has been the most challenging place to win?

Anderson: There are a lot of them, but number one on my list is Chicago. I can't seem to get it done there. I think it's the only track left on the circuit that I haven't won at, and I don't have a real reason why. It's a great track and a great facility, and I've had a lot of shots at it but never seem to be able to get it done. I flipped my car over one year. I've have had freak breakage. I've redlighted. I've done just about everything you could do to not win the race. It's like it's already written in stone when I get there that I'm not supposed to win that race. But I'm not going to give up...I'm going to win the thing one of these years.

SRE: Are there certain drivers you enjoy facing in the finals more than others?

Anderson: There are certain ones that probably mean more. The most fun opponent in the final, obviously, is Jason (Line). No matter what, you can't lose, but you still want to win. It's like a couple of brothers going at it. You still want to win real bad. There are others--the two Johnsons (Warren and Kurt), Dave Connolly, and Jeg seem to be my toughest opponents. I've got so much history with the Johnsons because I worked for them for 12 years. Anytime I race them, there's a lot on the line. With Jeg and Dave Connolly, they're probably our toughest opponents right now, so any time you match up with them is big.

SRE: Fifteen of your 50 wins came in your record-breaking 2004 season. Looking back, how difficult was it to win 15 out of 23 races?

Anderson: Well, it's huge to win one race a year. They don't give these doggone things away, and we've learned that the last four or five weeks. We haven't run up to par the last four or five weeks. We haven't performed at our top level, and we haven't driven at our top level. All those things have to be right to win one race, let alone 15. To do it 15 out of 23 times in one year means the driver, car, engine, and crew guys did a great job--no errors. You can't have errors if you're going to win, and we did it 15 out of 23 times that year.

SRE: You once said winning races is more important to you than winning championships. Is winning a race still the most gratifying thing for you? 

Anderson: It is for me--always has been and still is. I don't know if it's living for the day or what it is, but we go to a race to win that race. That's what gives us the most satisfaction and makes us come back to the shop, work hard every week, and make our operation even better. If we go to a race and we don't win, we'll have a little bit of a lull there where you just want to kick rocks and whine a little bit. It takes a little while to get out of that funk and get back into a good mindset for the next race. Winning just gets you into a good mindset moving forward to the next race. We go to every race to try and win it--not just worrying about whether we make more points than the next guy. To be able to hoist that Wally at the end of the race track--that means everything.