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HOUSTON, Texas, March 30, 2008 - By his own admission Greg Anderson's Summit Racing Pontiac GXP wasn't the fastest Pro Stock car going into today's eliminations for the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, but that didn't stop the three-time POWERade champ from collecting his second win of the season by defeating No. 1 qualifier Kurt Johnson in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt in the final round. In the money round Anderson, who qualified sixth, had an elapsed time of 6.692 seconds at 207.37 mph as Johnson spun the tires and slowed to a 13.425 e.t. at 64.01 mph.
"I'm a realist and I kind of know when you deserve to win or have a good chance to win, and I wouldn't have put my money on us at the start of the day," Anderson said. "But drag racing's crazy and you've got to race on the track, not on paper. We struggled this weekend, but a lot of guys struggled. It just came down to timing. Whoever we were matched up with we just did a slightly better job to get the round win. Timing is everything. This is a neat win. I don't remember winning one like this before. The racetrack just threw curveball after curveball at us, and we just kept getting infield hits, I guess. We never knocked one out of the park, but I guess it was enough to win. I'll remember this one for awhile."
This was Anderson's 53rd career victory to break a tie with Joe Amato (52) on the all-time wins list, and he has been on both sides of the fence when it comes to winning or losing races.
"They always say it seems to even out. Sometime you deserve to win and you don't, and other times you don't deserve to win and you do. I feel bad for Kurt right now, but we're all professionals and somebody's going to hold the trophy at the end of the day whether they were the most deserving car or not. You see it every day in other forms of racing, sometimes the fastest car doesn't win the race and that's what happened here today."
In Funny Car, Del Worsham ended a two-year victory drought by driving his Checker Schuck's Kragen Chevy Impala SS past the Ford of Ashley Force for his 22nd career win but first since the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis in 2005. Worsham defeated Jerry Toliver in Round 1, fellow Chevy driver Tim Wilkerson in Round 2 and 14-time Funny Car champ John Force in the semifinals before facing off against Force's daughter, Ashley, who was looking for the first career Funny Car win of her young career. In the final round Worsham had a winning elapsed time of 4.933 seconds at 316.60 mph to Force's 4.971 e.t. at 302.62 mph.
"What a great day," Worsham said. "I don't think one person working on the car was on our car in '05. We've just got a bunch of young kids that are really excited and really hungry. Everything just came together. I'm not going to say it was without trouble today - we had problems in the pits, we had problem in warm-ups, we had problems with our timer box - but it all came together. My Dad made some great calls on the starting line. It was getting hotter all day and going away, and he kept up with it and didn't get crazy. He had a great day.
"As bad as I felt about the first two races, and I felt really bad about it, it was a lot different than last year when we didn't qualify because the car ran well. We'd go out and test and it would make runs and I kept saying we could win a race, we just have to get everything right. We even tried today to fail, you know, try and do things and brake and not go down the track. But we kept up with it, and I could just tell by the way it was running that this day was going to come again, I just didn't know when and didn't know it was going to be this quick. It finally happened and here it is. It's tough, but the fans are what keep you excited out here. That's why you come out here. The fans out here thye come out here and support you and your family and it keeps everybody together. I've been driving 18 years now, and it just keeps me going."
Chevy drivers were one for two against Force Racing in the semifinals as Tony Bartone in the Canidae Pet Foods Chevy defeated Bob Tasca III in Round 1 and Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round 2 before losing to the Ford of Ashley Force in his semifinal match-up.
Team Chevy's Larry Dixon advanced to his second final round of the year in the U.S. Smokeless Top Fuel dragster before losing to first-time winner Antron Brown. Dixon won earlier this season at Phoenix and the Avon, Ind., resident has advanced to at least the semifinals at all four races this season.
In the Sportsman classes Bob Unkefer from Pleasant Valley, Mo., drove his '98 Trans Am to the Stock Eliminator title, Pete Peery from Bowie, Texas, won Super Stock in his '91 Calais, and another Texas resident won Super Gas as Jimmy Lewis from Forney, Texas, won in a '58 Corvette.
The next stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 9th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on April 10-13, 2008.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 6.692ET/207.37MPH
Runner-up - Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 13.425ET/64.01MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 6.638ET(track record)/208.42MPH
Low elapsed time - Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 6.638 seconds
Top Speed - Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 209.10MPH(track record)
Top 10 - 1. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 343; 2. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 340; 3. Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 275; 4. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 266; 5. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 263; 6. V. Gaines (Dodge), 250; 7. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 221; 8. Mike Edwards(Pontiac), 212; 9. Justin Humphreys (Pontiac), 168; 10. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP), 151.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Del Worsham (Chevy Impala SS), 4.933ET/316.60MPH
Runner-up - Ashley Force (Ford), 4.971ET/302.62MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Cruz Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 4.834ET/319.29MPH
Top 10 - 1. Cruz Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 260; 2. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 249; 3. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 233; 4. Robert Hight (Ford), 232; 5. Ashley Force (Ford), 231; 6. John Force (Ford), 219; 7. Gary Densham (Chevy Impala), 208; 8. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala), 204; 9. Del Worsham (Chevy), 187; 10. Jim Head (Toyota), 156.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Antron Brown, 4.605ET/320.28MPH
Runner-up - Larry Dixon, 4.621ET/309.06MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Alan Bradshaw, 4.526ET/323.50MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 357; 2. Larry Dixon, 349; 3. Antron Brown, 279; 4. Brandon Bernstein, 180; 5. Cory McClenathan, 214. 6. Rod Fuller, 175; 7. Dave Grubnic, 201; 8. Hillary Will, 195; 9. Doug Herbert, 193; 10. Morgan Lucas, 117.
Anderson's Pontiac Takes Surprise Pro Stock Win at NHRA Spring Nationals
Worsham Ends Funny Car Victory Drought in CSK Chevy
HOUSTON, Texas, March 30, 2008 - By his own admission Greg Anderson's Summit Racing Pontiac GXP wasn't the fastest Pro Stock car going into today's eliminations for the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park, but that didn't stop the three-time POWERade champ from collecting his second win of the season by defeating No. 1 qualifier Kurt Johnson in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt in the final round. In the money round Anderson, who qualified sixth, had an elapsed time of 6.692 seconds at 207.37 mph as Johnson spun the tires and slowed to a 13.425 e.t. at 64.01 mph.
"I'm a realist and I kind of know when you deserve to win or have a good chance to win, and I wouldn't have put my money on us at the start of the day," Anderson said. "But drag racing's crazy and you've got to race on the track, not on paper. We struggled this weekend, but a lot of guys struggled. It just came down to timing. Whoever we were matched up with we just did a slightly better job to get the round win. Timing is everything. This is a neat win. I don't remember winning one like this before. The racetrack just threw curveball after curveball at us, and we just kept getting infield hits, I guess. We never knocked one out of the park, but I guess it was enough to win. I'll remember this one for awhile."
This was Anderson's 53rd career victory to break a tie with Joe Amato (52) on the all-time wins list, and he has been on both sides of the fence when it comes to winning or losing races.
"They always say it seems to even out. Sometime you deserve to win and you don't, and other times you don't deserve to win and you do. I feel bad for Kurt right now, but we're all professionals and somebody's going to hold the trophy at the end of the day whether they were the most deserving car or not. You see it every day in other forms of racing, sometimes the fastest car doesn't win the race and that's what happened here today."
In Funny Car, Del Worsham ended a two-year victory drought by driving his Checker Schuck's Kragen Chevy Impala SS past the Ford of Ashley Force for his 22nd career win but first since the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis in 2005. Worsham defeated Jerry Toliver in Round 1, fellow Chevy driver Tim Wilkerson in Round 2 and 14-time Funny Car champ John Force in the semifinals before facing off against Force's daughter, Ashley, who was looking for the first career Funny Car win of her young career. In the final round Worsham had a winning elapsed time of 4.933 seconds at 316.60 mph to Force's 4.971 e.t. at 302.62 mph.
"What a great day," Worsham said. "I don't think one person working on the car was on our car in '05. We've just got a bunch of young kids that are really excited and really hungry. Everything just came together. I'm not going to say it was without trouble today - we had problems in the pits, we had problem in warm-ups, we had problems with our timer box - but it all came together. My Dad made some great calls on the starting line. It was getting hotter all day and going away, and he kept up with it and didn't get crazy. He had a great day.
"As bad as I felt about the first two races, and I felt really bad about it, it was a lot different than last year when we didn't qualify because the car ran well. We'd go out and test and it would make runs and I kept saying we could win a race, we just have to get everything right. We even tried today to fail, you know, try and do things and brake and not go down the track. But we kept up with it, and I could just tell by the way it was running that this day was going to come again, I just didn't know when and didn't know it was going to be this quick. It finally happened and here it is. It's tough, but the fans are what keep you excited out here. That's why you come out here. The fans out here thye come out here and support you and your family and it keeps everybody together. I've been driving 18 years now, and it just keeps me going."
Chevy drivers were one for two against Force Racing in the semifinals as Tony Bartone in the Canidae Pet Foods Chevy defeated Bob Tasca III in Round 1 and Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round 2 before losing to the Ford of Ashley Force in his semifinal match-up.
Team Chevy's Larry Dixon advanced to his second final round of the year in the U.S. Smokeless Top Fuel dragster before losing to first-time winner Antron Brown. Dixon won earlier this season at Phoenix and the Avon, Ind., resident has advanced to at least the semifinals at all four races this season.
In the Sportsman classes Bob Unkefer from Pleasant Valley, Mo., drove his '98 Trans Am to the Stock Eliminator title, Pete Peery from Bowie, Texas, won Super Stock in his '91 Calais, and another Texas resident won Super Gas as Jimmy Lewis from Forney, Texas, won in a '58 Corvette.
The next stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 9th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on April 10-13, 2008.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 6.692ET/207.37MPH
Runner-up - Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 13.425ET/64.01MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 6.638ET(track record)/208.42MPH
Low elapsed time - Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 6.638 seconds
Top Speed - Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 209.10MPH(track record)
Top 10 - 1. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 343; 2. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 340; 3. Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 275; 4. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 266; 5. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 263; 6. V. Gaines (Dodge), 250; 7. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 221; 8. Mike Edwards(Pontiac), 212; 9. Justin Humphreys (Pontiac), 168; 10. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP), 151.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Del Worsham (Chevy Impala SS), 4.933ET/316.60MPH
Runner-up - Ashley Force (Ford), 4.971ET/302.62MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Cruz Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 4.834ET/319.29MPH
Top 10 - 1. Cruz Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 260; 2. Jack Beckman (Dodge), 249; 3. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala), 233; 4. Robert Hight (Ford), 232; 5. Ashley Force (Ford), 231; 6. John Force (Ford), 219; 7. Gary Densham (Chevy Impala), 208; 8. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala), 204; 9. Del Worsham (Chevy), 187; 10. Jim Head (Toyota), 156.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Antron Brown, 4.605ET/320.28MPH
Runner-up - Larry Dixon, 4.621ET/309.06MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Alan Bradshaw, 4.526ET/323.50MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 357; 2. Larry Dixon, 349; 3. Antron Brown, 279; 4. Brandon Bernstein, 180; 5. Cory McClenathan, 214. 6. Rod Fuller, 175; 7. Dave Grubnic, 201; 8. Hillary Will, 195; 9. Doug Herbert, 193; 10. Morgan Lucas, 117.
