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NORWALK, Ohio, June 30, 2007 - Greg Anderson struggled through the second day of time trials for the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park, but still managed to put his Pontiac GTO on the Pro Stock pole for Sunday's eliminator. Anderson made a full pass under power in just one of the four qualifying sessions this weekend, but his track-record e.t. and speed of 6.654 seconds at 207.59 mph on Friday afternoon was good enough to give the three-time POWERade champion his eighth No. 1 qualifying award this season.
"We need to figure out exactly what went wrong today, and maybe the first thing was showing up at the racetrack," joked Anderson following his final qualifying attempt. "We'll just write it off as a bad day at the office. But you know what? I know what this team is, and what it's done before, and the more adversity we see it seems like the better we come through on Sunday. I'm going to hold out with that thought and maybe we can come through big tomorrow with the Summit Racing Pontiac. We thrive on consistency but we haven't had any this weekend. We'll shake it off, write it off, come back tomorrow and show what this team is capable of."
Watch video: Greg Anderson post-qualifying interview - YouTube - Pontiac's Greg Anderson Post-Qualifying NHRA Norwalk June 30
Watch video: Greg Anderson's post-qualifying interview - YouTube - Pontiac's Greg Anderson Post-Qualifying NHRA Norwalk June 30
For Anderson, it was his 59th career raceday pole and his sixth straight No. 1 qualifying award going back to the Summit Racing Nationals in Atlanta in May.
"I still have all the faith in the world in the guys who work on this Summit Racing Pontiac," said Anderson. "We pride ourselves on doing the right things regardless of where we race. The six straight pole awards show you what kind of equipment we have and the team we have, and we expect perfection out of ourselves. I'm pretty confident that we'll have a car that can win the race tomorrow."
Hometown favorite Dave Connolly has the quickest Chevy Cobalt in the 16-car Pro Stock field and is qualified in the No. 4 spot. Connolly's Torco Racing Chevrolet ran a 6.663 e.t. at 206.70 mph.
"It's been seven years since we've been down this racetrack so racing here this weekend has brought back some nice memories," said Connolly. "The track's been awesome and our Torco Racing Fuels Chevrolet responded. We ran decent the first session and kind of picked up from there, and even though we may have left a little on the table, we could have picked up a couple of more spots, but we're not going to get greedy - we're happy with that. Even in the heat today our Chevrolet ran pretty strong. Both lanes look pretty even and that's bodes well for a good race all the way around.
"We were fourth in the good session, and then fast again in both rounds today, so we have a pretty good racecar for tomorrow. We've had a consistent top-four car all weekend, but it will all come down to the starting line. We'll see what happens."
Tom Hammonds had his best qualifying effort of the season, and his Chevy Cobalt will start raceday from the No. 5 position after running 6.664 seconds at 205.41 mph.
"The guys have done an excellent job," said Hammonds. "We stubbed our toe a little in Englishtown last week, and this weekend we came out, and got the job done, at least the qualifying end of it. I think the biggest thing is that we're getting a better handle on our tune up as far as what our Chevy Cobalt wants gear ratio-wise, and it's starting to show. Our qualifying laps are starting to get better - that's the best we've done this year but we need to turn that into some round wins and maybe win a race.
"That last run wasn't perfect, but there's room for improvement and that's encouraging, especially when you're going into eliminations. We're probably going to have these same conditions tomorrow and knowing that we can make changes and make a better run, that makes us confident we can run well with anybody."
After last weekend's impressive win in Englishtown, Team Chevy's Tommy Johnson Jr. will start Sunday's race with his Skoal Racing Impala qualified in the No. 4 position. Johnson took the four spot with a 4.759 e.t. at 305.42 mph.
"Qualifying fourth last night allowed us to play a little on Saturday and see what we could get away with," said Johnson. "The third run was pretty decent, actually. I had a little problem on the top end and I shut it off. I'm probably a little gun shy after last weekend, and being down a body, so we were being a little cautious. I shut it off early and still ran a 4.92, which it could have been a 4.88. Even last night's run, the 4.75, we had a problem on the top end and I shut that one off early, too. Performance is there, I mean, the car is running the best it's run all year - we didn't lose anything in the fire. That was a big deal, not to kill the tune-up and encounter problems from here on. And then the last run, we thought we'd go a little further and it was a hair too much. Now we know where the edge is and I think we can pick it up for tomorrow."
Qualifying coverage of the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, June 30, beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern. NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage on July 1, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern on ESPN2, and a three-hour telecast of final eliminations will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Pontiac's Greg Anderson Captures 8th NHRA Pro Stock Pole of 2007
Summit Racing GTO sets track e.t. and speed record at inaugural event
NORWALK, Ohio, June 30, 2007 - Greg Anderson struggled through the second day of time trials for the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park, but still managed to put his Pontiac GTO on the Pro Stock pole for Sunday's eliminator. Anderson made a full pass under power in just one of the four qualifying sessions this weekend, but his track-record e.t. and speed of 6.654 seconds at 207.59 mph on Friday afternoon was good enough to give the three-time POWERade champion his eighth No. 1 qualifying award this season.
"We need to figure out exactly what went wrong today, and maybe the first thing was showing up at the racetrack," joked Anderson following his final qualifying attempt. "We'll just write it off as a bad day at the office. But you know what? I know what this team is, and what it's done before, and the more adversity we see it seems like the better we come through on Sunday. I'm going to hold out with that thought and maybe we can come through big tomorrow with the Summit Racing Pontiac. We thrive on consistency but we haven't had any this weekend. We'll shake it off, write it off, come back tomorrow and show what this team is capable of."
Watch video: Greg Anderson post-qualifying interview - YouTube - Pontiac's Greg Anderson Post-Qualifying NHRA Norwalk June 30
Watch video: Greg Anderson's post-qualifying interview - YouTube - Pontiac's Greg Anderson Post-Qualifying NHRA Norwalk June 30
For Anderson, it was his 59th career raceday pole and his sixth straight No. 1 qualifying award going back to the Summit Racing Nationals in Atlanta in May.
"I still have all the faith in the world in the guys who work on this Summit Racing Pontiac," said Anderson. "We pride ourselves on doing the right things regardless of where we race. The six straight pole awards show you what kind of equipment we have and the team we have, and we expect perfection out of ourselves. I'm pretty confident that we'll have a car that can win the race tomorrow."
Hometown favorite Dave Connolly has the quickest Chevy Cobalt in the 16-car Pro Stock field and is qualified in the No. 4 spot. Connolly's Torco Racing Chevrolet ran a 6.663 e.t. at 206.70 mph.
"It's been seven years since we've been down this racetrack so racing here this weekend has brought back some nice memories," said Connolly. "The track's been awesome and our Torco Racing Fuels Chevrolet responded. We ran decent the first session and kind of picked up from there, and even though we may have left a little on the table, we could have picked up a couple of more spots, but we're not going to get greedy - we're happy with that. Even in the heat today our Chevrolet ran pretty strong. Both lanes look pretty even and that's bodes well for a good race all the way around.
"We were fourth in the good session, and then fast again in both rounds today, so we have a pretty good racecar for tomorrow. We've had a consistent top-four car all weekend, but it will all come down to the starting line. We'll see what happens."
Tom Hammonds had his best qualifying effort of the season, and his Chevy Cobalt will start raceday from the No. 5 position after running 6.664 seconds at 205.41 mph.
"The guys have done an excellent job," said Hammonds. "We stubbed our toe a little in Englishtown last week, and this weekend we came out, and got the job done, at least the qualifying end of it. I think the biggest thing is that we're getting a better handle on our tune up as far as what our Chevy Cobalt wants gear ratio-wise, and it's starting to show. Our qualifying laps are starting to get better - that's the best we've done this year but we need to turn that into some round wins and maybe win a race.
"That last run wasn't perfect, but there's room for improvement and that's encouraging, especially when you're going into eliminations. We're probably going to have these same conditions tomorrow and knowing that we can make changes and make a better run, that makes us confident we can run well with anybody."
After last weekend's impressive win in Englishtown, Team Chevy's Tommy Johnson Jr. will start Sunday's race with his Skoal Racing Impala qualified in the No. 4 position. Johnson took the four spot with a 4.759 e.t. at 305.42 mph.
"Qualifying fourth last night allowed us to play a little on Saturday and see what we could get away with," said Johnson. "The third run was pretty decent, actually. I had a little problem on the top end and I shut it off. I'm probably a little gun shy after last weekend, and being down a body, so we were being a little cautious. I shut it off early and still ran a 4.92, which it could have been a 4.88. Even last night's run, the 4.75, we had a problem on the top end and I shut that one off early, too. Performance is there, I mean, the car is running the best it's run all year - we didn't lose anything in the fire. That was a big deal, not to kill the tune-up and encounter problems from here on. And then the last run, we thought we'd go a little further and it was a hair too much. Now we know where the edge is and I think we can pick it up for tomorrow."
Qualifying coverage of the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, June 30, beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern. NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage on July 1, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern on ESPN2, and a three-hour telecast of final eliminations will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern.
