Defending NHRA Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson remained as hot as the suffocating heat that engulfed the Indianapolis area for the start of the Labor Day weekend, with his Summit Racing Pontiac continuing to pace the field at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. In each of the first three of five scheduled sessions at Lucas Oil Raceway, Anderson posted the quickest elapsed time among the 28 racers making an attempt, highlighted by his 6.629-second, 208.01 mph pass on Saturday evening, where the conditions were the best of the weekend so far.
Although naturally pleased by his performance, with evening storms expected to drop temperatures by close to 20 degrees for the final day of qualifying on Sunday, the five-time Indianapolis winner knows he will need to maintain his torrid pace in order to secure the 76th No. 1 qualifying performance of his career.
“The conditions have continued to change throughout qualifying, but this Summit Racing team just keeps hitting the mark time after time, keeping both Jason (teammate Line) and myself on top of this field,” said Anderson. “With every session, the teams are naturally starting to get a handle on this racetrack, making it tougher and tougher to stay ahead, but we’ve been making some good decisions with all three cars (Ronnie Humphrey is currently sixth in his Summit Genuine Hotrod Hardware Pontiac), putting us in this position.
“However, this is Indy, and we have one more day to set the field. If that wasn’t enough, we’re supposed to get some weather coming in tonight that will create a completely different set of tuning conditions, which could scramble the field from top to bottom. Still, we’re going to the hotel with smiles on our faces, and ready to handle whatever gets thrown at us tomorrow. So far, so good.”
Although naturally pleased by his performance, with evening storms expected to drop temperatures by close to 20 degrees for the final day of qualifying on Sunday, the five-time Indianapolis winner knows he will need to maintain his torrid pace in order to secure the 76th No. 1 qualifying performance of his career.
“The conditions have continued to change throughout qualifying, but this Summit Racing team just keeps hitting the mark time after time, keeping both Jason (teammate Line) and myself on top of this field,” said Anderson. “With every session, the teams are naturally starting to get a handle on this racetrack, making it tougher and tougher to stay ahead, but we’ve been making some good decisions with all three cars (Ronnie Humphrey is currently sixth in his Summit Genuine Hotrod Hardware Pontiac), putting us in this position.
“However, this is Indy, and we have one more day to set the field. If that wasn’t enough, we’re supposed to get some weather coming in tonight that will create a completely different set of tuning conditions, which could scramble the field from top to bottom. Still, we’re going to the hotel with smiles on our faces, and ready to handle whatever gets thrown at us tomorrow. So far, so good.”
