Greg Anderson Wins Season-Opening NHRA Winternationals
Greg Anderson started the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season in impressive fashion, capturing the Pro Stock title at Sunday’s NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California. The win was Anderson’s fifth at the NHRA season-opener, tenth at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and the 71st of his Pro Stock career.
Anderson and the KB Racing crew made the most of their fifth place qualifying position (a 6.55 second/211.43 MPH pass made on Friday). On race day, Anderson combined .02 second reaction times with the quick elapsed times to eliminate fellow Team Summit driver Larry Morgan and Allen Johnson in the opening rounds of eliminations.
This set the stage for a semifinal match-up with teammate Jason Line. In one of the closest races of the day, Anderson’s 6.545/211.03 pass was enough to narrowly edge his teammate’s 6.547/211.83 run. That put Anderson in the 104th final round of his career, where he would face Jeg Coughlin Jr.
Anderson used his fourth .02 second reaction time of the day to leave in lockstep with Coughlin; Anderson's 6.549/210.87 pass bettered Coughlin’s 6.586/209.62 effort by approximately eight feet.
“It was a wonderful Sunday for the Summit Racing team,” said Anderson. “It seemed as if Jason and I had the two strongest cars today, but unfortunately ended up having to race in the semifinals instead of the final. Once we both won in the second round, we knew we had a guaranteed berth for one of our cars in the final, which turned out to be me. Fortunately, I was able to close the deal, stopping that big yellow Mopar. To get this first win of the season is the best thing that could have happened to us and I believe the future looks great."
Intramural Battle Ends Line’s Strong Run in Semifinals
Jason Line came into final eliminations looking to repeat his winning performance from a year ago. He earned the 28th No.1 qualifying position of his career (and third at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona) with his 6.535/212.23 pass on Saturday. Line used a 6.546/212.46 run in the opening round to defeat Grace Howell, who was making her first start in NHRA Pro Stock competition.
Line got the automatic win in Round Two thanks to Shane Gray’s red-light, yet he still recorded the low elapsed time of the weekend at 6.534 seconds with a top speed of 212.13 mph. This set the stage for an intramural match-up with KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson.
That race turned out to be one of the closest of the day, with Anderson's 6.545/211.03 pass just edging Line’s 6.547/211.83 effort.
“I was doing well until I ran into that Greg Anderson buzz saw,” joked Line. “Seriously, we had a nice weekend that we just didn’t finish off the way we would have liked. In the semis against Greg we shook a little which slowed us and that’s all it took. Still, Team Summit won the race and that’s all that really matters. The good news is that we’re making bad runs with my Summit Pontiac and it’s still fast. If we can ever get it to make a good run, it will be interesting, and I’m looking forward to when we get to that point."
Team Summit Results: Pro Stock
• Ronnie Humphrey qualified third (6.548/211.96) and lost to Jeg Coughlin in Round One of eliminations.
• Warren Johnson failed to qualify.
• Kurt Johnson qualified 10th (6.587/209.92) and lost to Rodger Brogdon in Round One of eliminations.
• Larry Morgan qualified 12th (6.593/210.50) and lost to Greg Anderson in Round One.
FINAL ROUND RESULTS: Greg Anderson defeated Jeg Coughlin, 6.549/210.87 to 6.586/209.62.
Team Summit Results: Funny Car
Tim Wilkerson qualified 14th (4.226/291.45). He defeated Johnny Gray in Round One of eliminations, but lost to John Force in Round Two. Wilkerson is currently tied for 7th in the points standings.
FINAL ROUND RESULTS: John Force defeated Mike Neff, 4.080/315.64 to 4.036/316.82.
Top Fuel Final Round Results
Spencer Massey defeated Antron Brown, 3.750/325.77 to 3.794/320.43.
Next Race
The next event is the NHRA Arizona Nationals, February 17-19 in Phoenix, AZ. For more news and in-depth results from the NHRA Winternationals Nationals, go to http://www.DragRaceCentral.com
