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POMONA, Calif., Feb. 7, 2008 - Qualifying for the season-opening 48th annual Car Quest Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals got underway today at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. With one round of time trials completed, Greg Anderson's Pontiac GXP made an auspicious debut in national-event competition by grabbing the provisional Pro Stock pole. The Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP stopped the clocks with a 6.635 e.t. at 208.91 mph.
"That first run of the season you're nervous," Anderson said. "It feels good to get it over with and in the books, and to be No. 1 is an extra bonus.
"We debuted a new Pontiac GXP this weekend and Pontiac does such a great job for us. Every time they introduce a new model car, we went from Grand Ams to GTOs to the new GXP, and every time we have a new car, we take another step forward. They keep building us great cars, and the GXP is no exception. It's going to be another winner. We're only scratching the surface with it."
A three-time NHRA POWERade champion (2003-05), Anderson is also a three-time winner of the Winternationals (2004, 2006-07) and has been No. 1 qualifier at this event three times (2004, 2006-07). Anderson's 51 career victories places him sixth all time by a NHRA professional driver and third all time among active, full-time professional drivers.
"We love this racetrack whether we're here in the winter or in the fall," Anderson said. "Anytime you start out the season running well, it's such a great feeling. You're always tentative because you don't know for sure what you have, or how you're going to stack up. You work hard over the winter but you still don't know how the other teams did. We had a good feeling coming in, but you never know until you roll out here if you're going to be able to play or not. It's early yet, and you can't tell for sure, but after pre-season testing in Las Vegas and the first round here, it looks like we may be one of the contenders. By Saturday afternoon, we'll see who has what. So far it looks like we're one of them who could take that pole and maybe a victory on Sunday."
Greg Anderson Post-Qualifying - YouTube - Pontiac's Greg Anderson Qualifies New GXP No. 1 at Pomona
After the first day of time trials, Kurt Johnson has the quickest Chevy Cobalt in the field. The ACDelco Chevrolet is qualified in the No. 2 position with a 6.649 e.t. at 208.62 mph. Defending POWERade champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. is qualified No. 3 in a Chevrolet after posting a 6.651 second run at 207.98 mph, and Warren Johnson is No. 4 in a Pontiac, tying the track record top speed at 209.04 mph.
Greg Anderson's Pontiac GXP Takes Provisional Pro Stock Pole During Opening Day at NHRA Winternationals
POMONA, Calif., Feb. 7, 2008 - Qualifying for the season-opening 48th annual Car Quest Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals got underway today at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. With one round of time trials completed, Greg Anderson's Pontiac GXP made an auspicious debut in national-event competition by grabbing the provisional Pro Stock pole. The Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP stopped the clocks with a 6.635 e.t. at 208.91 mph.
"That first run of the season you're nervous," Anderson said. "It feels good to get it over with and in the books, and to be No. 1 is an extra bonus.
"We debuted a new Pontiac GXP this weekend and Pontiac does such a great job for us. Every time they introduce a new model car, we went from Grand Ams to GTOs to the new GXP, and every time we have a new car, we take another step forward. They keep building us great cars, and the GXP is no exception. It's going to be another winner. We're only scratching the surface with it."
A three-time NHRA POWERade champion (2003-05), Anderson is also a three-time winner of the Winternationals (2004, 2006-07) and has been No. 1 qualifier at this event three times (2004, 2006-07). Anderson's 51 career victories places him sixth all time by a NHRA professional driver and third all time among active, full-time professional drivers.
"We love this racetrack whether we're here in the winter or in the fall," Anderson said. "Anytime you start out the season running well, it's such a great feeling. You're always tentative because you don't know for sure what you have, or how you're going to stack up. You work hard over the winter but you still don't know how the other teams did. We had a good feeling coming in, but you never know until you roll out here if you're going to be able to play or not. It's early yet, and you can't tell for sure, but after pre-season testing in Las Vegas and the first round here, it looks like we may be one of the contenders. By Saturday afternoon, we'll see who has what. So far it looks like we're one of them who could take that pole and maybe a victory on Sunday."
Greg Anderson Post-Qualifying - YouTube - Pontiac's Greg Anderson Qualifies New GXP No. 1 at Pomona
After the first day of time trials, Kurt Johnson has the quickest Chevy Cobalt in the field. The ACDelco Chevrolet is qualified in the No. 2 position with a 6.649 e.t. at 208.62 mph. Defending POWERade champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. is qualified No. 3 in a Chevrolet after posting a 6.651 second run at 207.98 mph, and Warren Johnson is No. 4 in a Pontiac, tying the track record top speed at 209.04 mph.
