Anderson's Pontiac Claims Third Consecutive Victory with Pro Stock Win at Denver
Tim Wilkerson puts his Chevy Funny Car in Winner's Circle for Fourth Time on Season
MORRISON, Colo., July 13, 2008 - It might be just for a week, but Pontiac Pro Stocker Greg Anderson and Chevy Funny Car driver can claim the title of King of the Mountain after wins today at the 29th annual NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
Anderson drove his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP to his third consecutive race win and fifth on the season by defeating Allen Johnson in the final round. Anderson had an elapsed time of 7.024 seconds at a track-record speed of 196.39 mph to defeat Johnson's Dodge at a 7.028 e.t. and 195.79 mph. Anderson also set the track record for elapsed time at 7.010 seconds when he qualified No. 1 for today's eliminations, and now has collected wins at the last three NHRA stops - Englishtown (N.J.), Norwalk (Ohio), and Denver.
"Every year we come here it's such a tough challenge," Anderson said. "This is the toughest race of the year for us; it's just so different than everything we do all year long. We came out here and tested, made 19 runs in two days and really had a good test. Still, when you come back for the race you don't know what's going to be different. We just ended up having a great weekend and adapted great. We probably learned more this year than we ever have out here. All the years I've been coming here I've just never really been able to get a handle on this track. Every Sunday in the past here, and it's usually been early in the day for us, we just couldn't wait to get off of the mountain. We just couldn't figure it out and wanted to get back to sea level. This year I felt really good about it after the test, and after Friday I thought we probably had a better chance of winning than we've ever had. It's a tough monster to tame, but we tamed it today and had a great race car. I don't want to get off of the mountain now; I love it out here. I wish we could race here again next week.
"This might've been the hardest we've worked for a win before, but that's just the way it's been this year. The class is so close and so tight right now; you can't afford to have a bad race. NHRA POWERade Pro Stock is the best it's ever been, without a doubt. We've had a good run the last three races, I can't deny it, but I tell you anybody can win on any given Sunday."
Anderson joined a long list of drivers praising Bandimere Speedway's all-new concrete surface and the cooling system installed under the track surface for the first 150 feet.
"I can't possibly say enough about the job that the Bandimere family has done with this racetrack in the last year, Anderson said. "All of the changes and improvements that they have made is absolutely the wave of the future. With the cooling system at the starting line and the all-concrete surface, it's made this track so much better than it used to be. It was never bad, but it's absolutely a supper track right now. You didn't see any problems at all out there with any of the classes. You just don't see that at any track we go to. My hat's off to them; they did a great job."
Kurt Johnson in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt advanced to the Pro Stock semifinals before losing to eventual race-winner Anderson. Ron Krisher in the Valvoline Chevy Cobalt joined Johnson and made it a pair of Chevys in the semis along with Anderson's Pontiac.
Johnson defeated Rickie Jones in Round 1 and Anderson's teammate Jason Line in Round 2 before engaging in an epic battle with Anderson in his semifinal round. Against Anderson, Johnson was nearly two hundredths better in reaction time off of the starting line than the Pro Stock points leader, so Anderson's 7.031 elapsed time at 196.10 mph to Johnson's 7.052 e.t. at 195.36 mph resulted in Anderson's .003 seconds margin of victory.
"We knew our race against Greg would be close, and it came down to three thousandths of a second at the stripe," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, he picked it up from the second round, while we ran about the same, and it cost us. You're disappointed any time you don't win, and knowing that was a race we could have won doesn't make it any easier. Still, the ACDelco Cobalt crew did a great job today, and I felt I did a good job of driving. We gained points on most of our competitors and inched closer to locking ourselves in the Countdown to One. The bottom line is that we just didn't have enough data on this new surface. I enjoy the challenge of racing at Bandimere, but it's time to get back to racing in conditions we're a little more familiar with. We're definitely looking forward to Seattle."
Krisher, a runner-up here last year to Allen Johnson, turned in another impressive performance at high altitude in his Chevy by advancing to his second semifinal round of the season. Krisher defeated Jim Yates in Round 1 and Johnny Gray in Round 2 before losing to his nemesis Johnson in the semifinal round. Johnson had an elapsed time of 7.050 seconds at 195.17 mph to Krisher's 7.069 e.t. at 194.60 mph.
"I guess I've got to learn how to get by Allen Johnson," Krisher laughed. "We actually got ourselves last year, Allen didn't get us, but today he definitely beat us. He just flat outran me from 1000 feet to the end of the racetrack. We've got to work on that. But I think that moves us up to seventh in points, so not a bad weekend."
In Funny Car, Tim Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray and Shoup Chevy Impala SS continued his dream season and expanded his points lead with his fourth victory of the season. Amazingly, Wilkerson defeated three of the four John Force Racing Fords in consecutive rounds before facing off with Jack Beckman in his fifth final round of the year. Wilkerson defeated Ashley Force in Round 1, Mike Neff in Round 2, and Robert Hight in Round 3 to meet the Dodge of Beckman. In the finals Wilkerson ran a 4.398 elapsed time at 262.23 mph to defeat Beckman's 4.661 e.t. at 276.97 mph.
"We had a good car all weekend," Wilkerson said. "We went down the track every run. I'm pretty proud of my guys, I tell you what. They're doing a terrific job. We've got a good maintenance schedule going and the car really reacts to it. And obviously there's nothing wrong with my brand-new Murf McKinney chassis - that stinkin' thing goes right straight down through there. And the Bandimere's did a wonderful job with this track. They really did a terrific job and they need to be commended.
"That was pretty exciting run all of those Force cars, and they were all good runs too. Those guys are always tough. You know anytime you race anything that says Force on it, it's going to be tough. But today the Mustangs went 1-2-3 to the Impala and that's what we like to hear. Hopefully it will continue to be a good Western Swing for us. It's a good start for us, and we're real excited about going the rest of the way."
In Top Fuel, it wasn't a big surprise when both Team GMC's Cory McClenathan and Team Chevy's Larry Dixon advanced to the semifinals as McClenathan entered today's eliminations with his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and Dixon qualified third. McClenathan in the FRAM Top Fuel dragster had a bye in Round 1, got past Doug Kalitta in Round 2, and then lost on a holeshot in a close, side-by-side semifinal match-up with Antron Brown. Brown had a winning elapsed time of 4.245 at 257.73 mph to McClenathan's quicker but losing 4.236 e.t. at 246.12 mph.
Dixon drove the U.S. Smokeless Top Fuel dragster to its third semifinal appearance of the season and will leave Denver third in driver points after the completion of today's 13th of 24 races on the season. McClenathan sits right behind Dixon in fourth place. Today Dixon defeated Steve Torrence in Round 1 and Morgan Lucas in Round 2 before bowing out to points-leader and eventual race-winner Tony Schumacher in the semis. Schumacher had an elapsed time of 4.039 seconds at 300.46 mph to Dixon's 4.146 e.t. at 288.95 mph.
The next stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 21st annual Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., on July 18-20, 2008.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 7.024ET/196.39MPH
Runner-up - Allen Johnson (Dodge), 7.028ET/195.79MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 7.010ET/196.30MPH
Low elapsed time - Greg Anderson, 7.010 seconds (track record)
Top Speed - Greg Anderson, 196.39MPH (track record)
Top 10 - 1. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 996; 2. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 900; 3. Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 828; 4. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 819; 5. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 711; 6. Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 671; 7. Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt), 662; 8. V. Gaines (Dodge), 657; 9. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP), 627; 10. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 565.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala SS), 4.398ET/262.23MPH
Runner-up - Jack Beckman (Dodge), 4.661ET/205.41MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 4.212ET/286.50MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala SS), 978; 2. Robert Hight (Ford), 763; 3. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 750; 4. Ashley Force (Ford), 739; 5. Cruz Pedregon (Toyota), 720; 6. John Force (Ford), 695; 7. (tie) Gary Densham (Chevy Impala SS), 632; 7. Ron Capps (Dodge), 632; 9. Mike Neff (Ford), 600; 10. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 530.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Tony Schumacher, 4.007ET/304.05MPH
Runner-up - Antron Brown, 4.173ET/276.97MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Cory McClenathan, 3.929ET/308.07MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 1,179; 2. Antron Brown, 904; 3. Larry Dixon, 867; 4. Cory McClenathan, 788; 5. Rod Fuller, 777; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 737; 7. Hillary Will, 719; 8. Doug Herbert, 666; 9. Doug Kalitta, 566; 10. Dave Grubnic, 564.
Tim Wilkerson puts his Chevy Funny Car in Winner's Circle for Fourth Time on Season
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MORRISON, Colo., July 13, 2008 - It might be just for a week, but Pontiac Pro Stocker Greg Anderson and Chevy Funny Car driver can claim the title of King of the Mountain after wins today at the 29th annual NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.
Anderson drove his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP to his third consecutive race win and fifth on the season by defeating Allen Johnson in the final round. Anderson had an elapsed time of 7.024 seconds at a track-record speed of 196.39 mph to defeat Johnson's Dodge at a 7.028 e.t. and 195.79 mph. Anderson also set the track record for elapsed time at 7.010 seconds when he qualified No. 1 for today's eliminations, and now has collected wins at the last three NHRA stops - Englishtown (N.J.), Norwalk (Ohio), and Denver.
"Every year we come here it's such a tough challenge," Anderson said. "This is the toughest race of the year for us; it's just so different than everything we do all year long. We came out here and tested, made 19 runs in two days and really had a good test. Still, when you come back for the race you don't know what's going to be different. We just ended up having a great weekend and adapted great. We probably learned more this year than we ever have out here. All the years I've been coming here I've just never really been able to get a handle on this track. Every Sunday in the past here, and it's usually been early in the day for us, we just couldn't wait to get off of the mountain. We just couldn't figure it out and wanted to get back to sea level. This year I felt really good about it after the test, and after Friday I thought we probably had a better chance of winning than we've ever had. It's a tough monster to tame, but we tamed it today and had a great race car. I don't want to get off of the mountain now; I love it out here. I wish we could race here again next week.
"This might've been the hardest we've worked for a win before, but that's just the way it's been this year. The class is so close and so tight right now; you can't afford to have a bad race. NHRA POWERade Pro Stock is the best it's ever been, without a doubt. We've had a good run the last three races, I can't deny it, but I tell you anybody can win on any given Sunday."
Anderson joined a long list of drivers praising Bandimere Speedway's all-new concrete surface and the cooling system installed under the track surface for the first 150 feet.
"I can't possibly say enough about the job that the Bandimere family has done with this racetrack in the last year, Anderson said. "All of the changes and improvements that they have made is absolutely the wave of the future. With the cooling system at the starting line and the all-concrete surface, it's made this track so much better than it used to be. It was never bad, but it's absolutely a supper track right now. You didn't see any problems at all out there with any of the classes. You just don't see that at any track we go to. My hat's off to them; they did a great job."
Kurt Johnson in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt advanced to the Pro Stock semifinals before losing to eventual race-winner Anderson. Ron Krisher in the Valvoline Chevy Cobalt joined Johnson and made it a pair of Chevys in the semis along with Anderson's Pontiac.
Johnson defeated Rickie Jones in Round 1 and Anderson's teammate Jason Line in Round 2 before engaging in an epic battle with Anderson in his semifinal round. Against Anderson, Johnson was nearly two hundredths better in reaction time off of the starting line than the Pro Stock points leader, so Anderson's 7.031 elapsed time at 196.10 mph to Johnson's 7.052 e.t. at 195.36 mph resulted in Anderson's .003 seconds margin of victory.
"We knew our race against Greg would be close, and it came down to three thousandths of a second at the stripe," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, he picked it up from the second round, while we ran about the same, and it cost us. You're disappointed any time you don't win, and knowing that was a race we could have won doesn't make it any easier. Still, the ACDelco Cobalt crew did a great job today, and I felt I did a good job of driving. We gained points on most of our competitors and inched closer to locking ourselves in the Countdown to One. The bottom line is that we just didn't have enough data on this new surface. I enjoy the challenge of racing at Bandimere, but it's time to get back to racing in conditions we're a little more familiar with. We're definitely looking forward to Seattle."
Krisher, a runner-up here last year to Allen Johnson, turned in another impressive performance at high altitude in his Chevy by advancing to his second semifinal round of the season. Krisher defeated Jim Yates in Round 1 and Johnny Gray in Round 2 before losing to his nemesis Johnson in the semifinal round. Johnson had an elapsed time of 7.050 seconds at 195.17 mph to Krisher's 7.069 e.t. at 194.60 mph.
"I guess I've got to learn how to get by Allen Johnson," Krisher laughed. "We actually got ourselves last year, Allen didn't get us, but today he definitely beat us. He just flat outran me from 1000 feet to the end of the racetrack. We've got to work on that. But I think that moves us up to seventh in points, so not a bad weekend."
In Funny Car, Tim Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray and Shoup Chevy Impala SS continued his dream season and expanded his points lead with his fourth victory of the season. Amazingly, Wilkerson defeated three of the four John Force Racing Fords in consecutive rounds before facing off with Jack Beckman in his fifth final round of the year. Wilkerson defeated Ashley Force in Round 1, Mike Neff in Round 2, and Robert Hight in Round 3 to meet the Dodge of Beckman. In the finals Wilkerson ran a 4.398 elapsed time at 262.23 mph to defeat Beckman's 4.661 e.t. at 276.97 mph.
"We had a good car all weekend," Wilkerson said. "We went down the track every run. I'm pretty proud of my guys, I tell you what. They're doing a terrific job. We've got a good maintenance schedule going and the car really reacts to it. And obviously there's nothing wrong with my brand-new Murf McKinney chassis - that stinkin' thing goes right straight down through there. And the Bandimere's did a wonderful job with this track. They really did a terrific job and they need to be commended.
"That was pretty exciting run all of those Force cars, and they were all good runs too. Those guys are always tough. You know anytime you race anything that says Force on it, it's going to be tough. But today the Mustangs went 1-2-3 to the Impala and that's what we like to hear. Hopefully it will continue to be a good Western Swing for us. It's a good start for us, and we're real excited about going the rest of the way."
In Top Fuel, it wasn't a big surprise when both Team GMC's Cory McClenathan and Team Chevy's Larry Dixon advanced to the semifinals as McClenathan entered today's eliminations with his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and Dixon qualified third. McClenathan in the FRAM Top Fuel dragster had a bye in Round 1, got past Doug Kalitta in Round 2, and then lost on a holeshot in a close, side-by-side semifinal match-up with Antron Brown. Brown had a winning elapsed time of 4.245 at 257.73 mph to McClenathan's quicker but losing 4.236 e.t. at 246.12 mph.
Dixon drove the U.S. Smokeless Top Fuel dragster to its third semifinal appearance of the season and will leave Denver third in driver points after the completion of today's 13th of 24 races on the season. McClenathan sits right behind Dixon in fourth place. Today Dixon defeated Steve Torrence in Round 1 and Morgan Lucas in Round 2 before bowing out to points-leader and eventual race-winner Tony Schumacher in the semis. Schumacher had an elapsed time of 4.039 seconds at 300.46 mph to Dixon's 4.146 e.t. at 288.95 mph.
The next stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 21st annual Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., on July 18-20, 2008.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 7.024ET/196.39MPH
Runner-up - Allen Johnson (Dodge), 7.028ET/195.79MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 7.010ET/196.30MPH
Low elapsed time - Greg Anderson, 7.010 seconds (track record)
Top Speed - Greg Anderson, 196.39MPH (track record)
Top 10 - 1. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 996; 2. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 900; 3. Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 828; 4. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 819; 5. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 711; 6. Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 671; 7. Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt), 662; 8. V. Gaines (Dodge), 657; 9. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP), 627; 10. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 565.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala SS), 4.398ET/262.23MPH
Runner-up - Jack Beckman (Dodge), 4.661ET/205.41MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 4.212ET/286.50MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala SS), 978; 2. Robert Hight (Ford), 763; 3. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 750; 4. Ashley Force (Ford), 739; 5. Cruz Pedregon (Toyota), 720; 6. John Force (Ford), 695; 7. (tie) Gary Densham (Chevy Impala SS), 632; 7. Ron Capps (Dodge), 632; 9. Mike Neff (Ford), 600; 10. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 530.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Tony Schumacher, 4.007ET/304.05MPH
Runner-up - Antron Brown, 4.173ET/276.97MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Cory McClenathan, 3.929ET/308.07MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 1,179; 2. Antron Brown, 904; 3. Larry Dixon, 867; 4. Cory McClenathan, 788; 5. Rod Fuller, 777; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 737; 7. Hillary Will, 719; 8. Doug Herbert, 666; 9. Doug Kalitta, 566; 10. Dave Grubnic, 564.
