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SOMONA, Calif.(July 30) -- Greg Anderson, driver of the KB Racing LLC-owned, Summit Racing Equipment-backed Pro Stock Pontiac GTO, lost an extremely close race in the second round of the 19th annual NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals, which was run this weekend at Infineon Raceway in the wine country of Sonoma County.
Running low elapsed time of the opening round, Anderson turned back Mike Thomas. Anderson ran an elapsed time of 6.659 seconds at 207.75 mph. While, Thomas ran a 6.706-second pass in a losing effort. The win moved Anderson to the second round against Allen Johnson.
Anderson had to chase Johnson from the starting line to the finish line and came up one thousandth of a second short. One cannot even blink their eye that quick. For Anderson, who qualified No. 1 with a national record pass of 6.631 seconds, it ended what had otherwise been one of his better outings this year.
Both cars took their time getting into the starting lights. Johnson gained a 38 hundredth of a second advantage at the green light and just barely held off the hard-charging Anderson who again had low E.T. of the round. It was a pass of 6.659 seconds at 207.75 mph for Anderson. Johnson took the win with an elapsed time of 6.696 seconds.
"It's been a good three races to break in a new car and we've learned a lot over the last three weeks," said Anderson, the 2004 Driver of the Year. "The guys (on this team) have done a great job with this Summit Racing Pontiac GTO and running national-record numbers in just our third race with it says a lot. We'll certainly take a lot of positives home with us from Sonoma - more so than the race before and the race before that. We got better with the car and I got better driving.
"I got stung today by a guy that had a fantastic light in the second round but my Pontiac had low elapsed time in the first and second round. We did great in qualifying and we did just fine on race day - the Ken Black Racing team certainly had the two fast horses today. It's disappointing when you lose by a margin as .001 hurts - worse than if I'd lost by a mile.
"But I'm so proud of the guys, we were a little shorthanded this weekend with Jeff Perley (and his wife) just having a baby a couple of days ago, and every one jumped in and pulled a little harder. They worked hard and had these two GTOs flying - I couldn't be more proud."
Anderson's national elapsed time record earned him 20 bonus points in the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock point standings. Anderson leaves Sonoma second in points, with 988, 64 behind the leader, teammate Jason Line. Dave Connolly is third, 122 points behind Line. In fourth is Jim Yates, 188 points behind leader, and Kurt Johnson sits fifth, 252 points behind the Line.
With eight races left on the 2006 schedule, the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series moves to the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" - Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd Minn., for the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals, which will be contested August 10-13. Anderson was born and raised in Duluth, Minn.
KB Racing LLC is owned by Las Vegas businessmen Ken Black and his son Kenny Black. KB Racing LLC fields two Summit Racing Equipment Pro Stock Pontiac GTOs, one driven by Greg Anderson and the other by Jason Line in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Anderson has won three consecutive POWERade Pro Stock Championships (2003-2005). Line finished third in the 2005 POWERade point standings and was honored with the 2004 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future award, presented to the most outstanding rookie in a professional category. This year KB Racing LLC also began fielding a Top Fuel Dragster, managed by Kalitta Motorsports, with rookie Top Fuel driver Hillary Will handling the driving duties.
Anderson One Thousandth of a Second Short at Infineon
SOMONA, Calif.(July 30) -- Greg Anderson, driver of the KB Racing LLC-owned, Summit Racing Equipment-backed Pro Stock Pontiac GTO, lost an extremely close race in the second round of the 19th annual NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals, which was run this weekend at Infineon Raceway in the wine country of Sonoma County.
Running low elapsed time of the opening round, Anderson turned back Mike Thomas. Anderson ran an elapsed time of 6.659 seconds at 207.75 mph. While, Thomas ran a 6.706-second pass in a losing effort. The win moved Anderson to the second round against Allen Johnson.
Anderson had to chase Johnson from the starting line to the finish line and came up one thousandth of a second short. One cannot even blink their eye that quick. For Anderson, who qualified No. 1 with a national record pass of 6.631 seconds, it ended what had otherwise been one of his better outings this year.
Both cars took their time getting into the starting lights. Johnson gained a 38 hundredth of a second advantage at the green light and just barely held off the hard-charging Anderson who again had low E.T. of the round. It was a pass of 6.659 seconds at 207.75 mph for Anderson. Johnson took the win with an elapsed time of 6.696 seconds.
"It's been a good three races to break in a new car and we've learned a lot over the last three weeks," said Anderson, the 2004 Driver of the Year. "The guys (on this team) have done a great job with this Summit Racing Pontiac GTO and running national-record numbers in just our third race with it says a lot. We'll certainly take a lot of positives home with us from Sonoma - more so than the race before and the race before that. We got better with the car and I got better driving.
"I got stung today by a guy that had a fantastic light in the second round but my Pontiac had low elapsed time in the first and second round. We did great in qualifying and we did just fine on race day - the Ken Black Racing team certainly had the two fast horses today. It's disappointing when you lose by a margin as .001 hurts - worse than if I'd lost by a mile.
"But I'm so proud of the guys, we were a little shorthanded this weekend with Jeff Perley (and his wife) just having a baby a couple of days ago, and every one jumped in and pulled a little harder. They worked hard and had these two GTOs flying - I couldn't be more proud."
Anderson's national elapsed time record earned him 20 bonus points in the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock point standings. Anderson leaves Sonoma second in points, with 988, 64 behind the leader, teammate Jason Line. Dave Connolly is third, 122 points behind Line. In fourth is Jim Yates, 188 points behind leader, and Kurt Johnson sits fifth, 252 points behind the Line.
With eight races left on the 2006 schedule, the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series moves to the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" - Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd Minn., for the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals, which will be contested August 10-13. Anderson was born and raised in Duluth, Minn.
KB Racing LLC is owned by Las Vegas businessmen Ken Black and his son Kenny Black. KB Racing LLC fields two Summit Racing Equipment Pro Stock Pontiac GTOs, one driven by Greg Anderson and the other by Jason Line in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Anderson has won three consecutive POWERade Pro Stock Championships (2003-2005). Line finished third in the 2005 POWERade point standings and was honored with the 2004 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future award, presented to the most outstanding rookie in a professional category. This year KB Racing LLC also began fielding a Top Fuel Dragster, managed by Kalitta Motorsports, with rookie Top Fuel driver Hillary Will handling the driving duties.
