<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/GMLogo.jpg" alt="GMLogo" align="left"borders="0"/>
CHANDLER, Ariz., Feb. 19, 2008 - Three-time NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson made an auspicious debut in his new Summit Racing Pontiac GXP two weeks ago at the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona, qualifying his new GM livery No. 1 and then dispatching of defending Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the final round for his 52nd career win, tying him with former Top Fuel great Joe Amato for fifth all time in career wins. For Anderson it was a great debut of his Pontiac GXP and the 50th career win for the Minnesota native behind the wheel of a Pontiac, now giving him the unique distinction of being the only Pontiac Pro Stock driver to post wins in a Firebird, Grand Am, GTO and GXP in their career.
"We had doubts whether we should bring the new GXP to Pomona or not because we didn't feel we had enough time to prepare a new car," Anderson said. "We had a great test session at Las Vegas at the Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown and we learned a lot of stuff about it. Obviously it's going to be a great hot rod. It's already looking fantastic and it should only get better. My hat's off to the boys at Pontiac - they built that beast.
"The guys over at GM have been working on this car for over a year. It was a long process but obviously they did their homework well. (The GXP) comes right out of the box great, and you hope and think you can make it better as you go. There's a lot of potential. Just like with the DRCE 3 (GM's Drag Racing Competition Engine, third generation). We came out to Pomona last year with it and didn't think it would be real great to start with, but it got better as the season went along and it's better this year. (GM) just keeps building great cars. I'm definitely affiliated with the right group in General Motors and their Pontiac brand. I've been fortunate that way. I've had great equipment and every year they keep making it better."
Anderson hopes his win at Pomona and a strong showing at Phoenix gets him off to a fast start similar to last year where he won six of the season's first 10 races. Although he won two more races for a class-leading eight on the season, Anderson and his KB Racing team seemed to lose some of its early momentum and eventually finished second to Coughlin.
"Last year we got off to a great start to the season and looking back at it in hindsight it probably got us out of the 'going-to-the-race-to-win-the-race' mode," Anderson said. "We just decided this year we're going to go out and try and win every single race no matter what. Obviously you can't win every race unless you win that first one, and we've done that. If we win a championship, great, if we don't, then maybe we still will have won 15 races, I don't know. Sometimes you think you've got a great plan and it turns out not to be so great. We just can't plan like we did last year - we learned a valuable lesson. I can't wait to get to Phoenix and lock horns with these guys again.
"It's probably going to be the best year ever for POWERade Pro Stock. I know I've said stuff like that before, but it's true. It gets tougher every year. That's what makes you feel good at the end of the day when you beat a class like that. I think this is probably going to be the toughest season ever in Pro Stock. If we can find a way to come out as POWERade champions then you're certainly going to feel good at the end of the year because you're going to feel like you earned it."
24th annual Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals
GM RACING STATS AND FACTS
* Anderson's most recent win at the season-opener at Pomona was his 50th career win behind the wheel of a Pontiac and his 52nd overall. Of Pontiac's 181 all-time wins in NHRA Pro Stock competition, Anderson has the most Pontiac wins with 50, Warren Johnson is next on the list with 42 wins in a Pontiac and Jim Yates is third with 25. All of Jim Yates career national-event victories have been in a Pontiac and all three drivers, Anderson, Johnson, and Yates, have won in a Firebird, a Grand Am and a GTO.
* Anderson's 52nd career win at Pomona ties him with former Top Fuel great Joe Amato for fifth all time for career wins. .
* By winning the 2007 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock title, Coughlin joined Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, Lee Shepherd, Greg Anderson, and Darrell Alderman as the only Pro Stock drivers in the history of the sport to win three or more championships.
* Led by Coughlin, Chevrolet won its 16th Manufacturers Cup in 2007, the most of any manufacturer in the history of the sport.
* Cory McClenathan, driver of the FRAM/GMC dragster, advanced to his 51st career final round at Pomona before finishing runner-up to Tony Schumacher. Ironically, both McClenathan and Team Chevy's Larry Dixon will line up for their 700th career round of NHRA Top Fuel competition in the first round at Phoenix if they qualify for the 16-car field at the CSK NHRA Nationals.
* Defending Phoenix champ Kurt Johnson in his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt leads the way for Team Chevy at the CSK NHRA Nationals with three career wins (2007, 2004, 1999), and defending POWERade Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin collected a win here at Phoenix in a Chevy in 2000.
* Warren Johnson in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac is tied with his son Kurt with three career wins at Phoenix (2006, 2001, 1998), followed by Jim Yates in the Wiley X Pontiac GXP with back-to-back wins in 1996 and 1997, and Greg Anderson will be looking to double his career win total by matching his win here in 2003.
* The Firebird International Raceway Pro Stock track record of 6.634 seconds is held by Jason Line in a Pontiac at last year's CSK NHRA Nationals, and Line's teammate Anderson drove his Pontiac to a track-record speed of 209.49 also at last year's event.
* After the first of 24 races, eight drivers in GM-branded cars occupy a spot in the top 10 of the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock standings. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP) is in first place with 118 points, Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt) is second with 97 points, Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt) is third with 76 points, Warren Johnson (Pontiac) is fifth with 55 points, Jason Line (Pontiac) is sixth with 54 points, Pontiac drivers Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP) and Justin Humphreys are tied for seventh with 53 points, and Bill Glidden is tied for ninth in his Pontiac with 32 points.
* Defending NHRA POWERade Funny Car champ Tony Pedregon in the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS is also the defending champion of the CSK NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway. Pedregon's win over Robert Hight in last year's final round was the first of four wins on the season en route to his second career NHRA Funny Car championship.
* Pedregon also set the national record for elapsed time in Funny Car at this event last year with a 4.659 e.t. Ironically, Pedregon doesn't hold the Firebird International Raceway e.t. record as Robert Hight posted a 4.636 e.t. in qualifying for this event last year but was unable to back it up to be recognized as an NHRA national record.
* Del Worsham in the Checker Schuck's Kragen Chevy Impala SS leads the way for Team Chevy Funny Car drivers with two career wins in his car sponsor's title race (2004, 2002). Brothers and teammates Cruz (1993) and Tony Pedregon (2007) have also visited the winner's circle here at Firebird Raceway once in their careers.
* Tim Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray &Shoup Chevy Impala SS set low e.t. of the meet at 4.790 seconds in the season-opener at Pomona after claiming his 11th career No. 1 qualifier in Funny Car.
Ninety minutes of qualifying coverage of the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals will be telecast on ESPN2 on Sunday, Feb. 24, beginning at 2 a.m. Eastern. NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage on Sunday, Feb. 24, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern on ESPN2, and a three-hour telecast of final eliminations also on ESPN2 will start at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at General Motors | Corporate Website | GM.
Anderson Looking for Win No. 2 in New Pontiac GXP
Three-time Pro Stock Champ Tries to Match Debut Win at Winternationals
CHANDLER, Ariz., Feb. 19, 2008 - Three-time NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson made an auspicious debut in his new Summit Racing Pontiac GXP two weeks ago at the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona, qualifying his new GM livery No. 1 and then dispatching of defending Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the final round for his 52nd career win, tying him with former Top Fuel great Joe Amato for fifth all time in career wins. For Anderson it was a great debut of his Pontiac GXP and the 50th career win for the Minnesota native behind the wheel of a Pontiac, now giving him the unique distinction of being the only Pontiac Pro Stock driver to post wins in a Firebird, Grand Am, GTO and GXP in their career.
"We had doubts whether we should bring the new GXP to Pomona or not because we didn't feel we had enough time to prepare a new car," Anderson said. "We had a great test session at Las Vegas at the Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown and we learned a lot of stuff about it. Obviously it's going to be a great hot rod. It's already looking fantastic and it should only get better. My hat's off to the boys at Pontiac - they built that beast.
"The guys over at GM have been working on this car for over a year. It was a long process but obviously they did their homework well. (The GXP) comes right out of the box great, and you hope and think you can make it better as you go. There's a lot of potential. Just like with the DRCE 3 (GM's Drag Racing Competition Engine, third generation). We came out to Pomona last year with it and didn't think it would be real great to start with, but it got better as the season went along and it's better this year. (GM) just keeps building great cars. I'm definitely affiliated with the right group in General Motors and their Pontiac brand. I've been fortunate that way. I've had great equipment and every year they keep making it better."
Anderson hopes his win at Pomona and a strong showing at Phoenix gets him off to a fast start similar to last year where he won six of the season's first 10 races. Although he won two more races for a class-leading eight on the season, Anderson and his KB Racing team seemed to lose some of its early momentum and eventually finished second to Coughlin.
"Last year we got off to a great start to the season and looking back at it in hindsight it probably got us out of the 'going-to-the-race-to-win-the-race' mode," Anderson said. "We just decided this year we're going to go out and try and win every single race no matter what. Obviously you can't win every race unless you win that first one, and we've done that. If we win a championship, great, if we don't, then maybe we still will have won 15 races, I don't know. Sometimes you think you've got a great plan and it turns out not to be so great. We just can't plan like we did last year - we learned a valuable lesson. I can't wait to get to Phoenix and lock horns with these guys again.
"It's probably going to be the best year ever for POWERade Pro Stock. I know I've said stuff like that before, but it's true. It gets tougher every year. That's what makes you feel good at the end of the day when you beat a class like that. I think this is probably going to be the toughest season ever in Pro Stock. If we can find a way to come out as POWERade champions then you're certainly going to feel good at the end of the year because you're going to feel like you earned it."
24th annual Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals
GM RACING STATS AND FACTS
* Anderson's most recent win at the season-opener at Pomona was his 50th career win behind the wheel of a Pontiac and his 52nd overall. Of Pontiac's 181 all-time wins in NHRA Pro Stock competition, Anderson has the most Pontiac wins with 50, Warren Johnson is next on the list with 42 wins in a Pontiac and Jim Yates is third with 25. All of Jim Yates career national-event victories have been in a Pontiac and all three drivers, Anderson, Johnson, and Yates, have won in a Firebird, a Grand Am and a GTO.
* Anderson's 52nd career win at Pomona ties him with former Top Fuel great Joe Amato for fifth all time for career wins. .
* By winning the 2007 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock title, Coughlin joined Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, Lee Shepherd, Greg Anderson, and Darrell Alderman as the only Pro Stock drivers in the history of the sport to win three or more championships.
* Led by Coughlin, Chevrolet won its 16th Manufacturers Cup in 2007, the most of any manufacturer in the history of the sport.
* Cory McClenathan, driver of the FRAM/GMC dragster, advanced to his 51st career final round at Pomona before finishing runner-up to Tony Schumacher. Ironically, both McClenathan and Team Chevy's Larry Dixon will line up for their 700th career round of NHRA Top Fuel competition in the first round at Phoenix if they qualify for the 16-car field at the CSK NHRA Nationals.
* Defending Phoenix champ Kurt Johnson in his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt leads the way for Team Chevy at the CSK NHRA Nationals with three career wins (2007, 2004, 1999), and defending POWERade Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin collected a win here at Phoenix in a Chevy in 2000.
* Warren Johnson in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac is tied with his son Kurt with three career wins at Phoenix (2006, 2001, 1998), followed by Jim Yates in the Wiley X Pontiac GXP with back-to-back wins in 1996 and 1997, and Greg Anderson will be looking to double his career win total by matching his win here in 2003.
* The Firebird International Raceway Pro Stock track record of 6.634 seconds is held by Jason Line in a Pontiac at last year's CSK NHRA Nationals, and Line's teammate Anderson drove his Pontiac to a track-record speed of 209.49 also at last year's event.
* After the first of 24 races, eight drivers in GM-branded cars occupy a spot in the top 10 of the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock standings. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP) is in first place with 118 points, Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt) is second with 97 points, Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt) is third with 76 points, Warren Johnson (Pontiac) is fifth with 55 points, Jason Line (Pontiac) is sixth with 54 points, Pontiac drivers Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP) and Justin Humphreys are tied for seventh with 53 points, and Bill Glidden is tied for ninth in his Pontiac with 32 points.
* Defending NHRA POWERade Funny Car champ Tony Pedregon in the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS is also the defending champion of the CSK NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway. Pedregon's win over Robert Hight in last year's final round was the first of four wins on the season en route to his second career NHRA Funny Car championship.
* Pedregon also set the national record for elapsed time in Funny Car at this event last year with a 4.659 e.t. Ironically, Pedregon doesn't hold the Firebird International Raceway e.t. record as Robert Hight posted a 4.636 e.t. in qualifying for this event last year but was unable to back it up to be recognized as an NHRA national record.
* Del Worsham in the Checker Schuck's Kragen Chevy Impala SS leads the way for Team Chevy Funny Car drivers with two career wins in his car sponsor's title race (2004, 2002). Brothers and teammates Cruz (1993) and Tony Pedregon (2007) have also visited the winner's circle here at Firebird Raceway once in their careers.
* Tim Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray &Shoup Chevy Impala SS set low e.t. of the meet at 4.790 seconds in the season-opener at Pomona after claiming his 11th career No. 1 qualifier in Funny Car.
Ninety minutes of qualifying coverage of the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals will be telecast on ESPN2 on Sunday, Feb. 24, beginning at 2 a.m. Eastern. NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage on Sunday, Feb. 24, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern on ESPN2, and a three-hour telecast of final eliminations also on ESPN2 will start at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at General Motors | Corporate Website | GM.
