Summit Racing Pontiac Driver Greg Anderson Wins Sponsor's Race at Norwalk
Team Chevy 1-2 in Funny Car Points After Tony Pedregon's Victory
NORWALK, Ohio, June 29, 2008 - After a disappointing loss in yesterday's final round of the K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus Pro Stock event and its $50,000 payday, Summit Racing Pontiac driver Greg Anderson set his sights on eliminations for today's second annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park.
His aim was true as Anderson defeated the Dodge driven by Larry Morgan in the Pro Stock finals for his class-leading fourth victory of the season in four final rounds and the 55th of his career. In the finals, Anderson drove his Pontiac to a winning elapsed time of 6.704 seconds at 206.04 mph as Morgan fouled at the start, and the three-time POWERade champ takes over top spot in the Pro Stock points standings with the win. Tony Pedregon in the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS also claimed his second Funny Car victory in the last three races to move into second place in the Funny Car standings behind points leader and fellow Chevy driver Tim Wilkerson.
"We certainly wanted to make amends today after getting beat in the finals of the K&N Horsepower Challenge," Anderson said, "and after all of the slugging, we got it done and made amends for last night. We also got some precious POWERade points and I think we probably made our sponsor happy too. It feels pretty good to win at a Summit-sponsored race. They're great people and we love the relationship we have with them. There's no better feeling in the world than to win a race that they sponsor. I'm very proud to race for them.
"I would love to have that No. 1 spot going into the Countdown and the 20 or 30 points that go with it. That's going to be large. That's certainly the goal, but we haven't done too well up until the last couple of weekends. But we've got a great race team over there and they're kind of beginning to show us the way home this year. That's all you can ask for when you come to the racetrack is a chance to win. For the last couple of months we haven't had that great of a chance to win, but we've got a hot rod now and I think we're back in the fight. We're going to keep swinging and make it better yet by the time we get to the Countdown. But there's a long way to go. There are a lot of great racers out here and every race is so unpredictable. NHRA Pro Stock is just a great class right now. It's such a battle out there and at the end of the day if you can find a way to win, you feel like you're King of the Mountain. It's incredible the competition level in this class right now and I'm just proud to be a part of it."
Anderson qualified an uncharacteristically poor ninth for today's eliminations, but today his Pontiac's performance continued to get better with each round. He defeated fellow Pontiac driver Mike Edwards with a 6.727 e.t. in Round 1 and then engaged in a classic side-by-side match-up in the second round with his teammate and No. 1 qualifier Jason Line. Both Summit Racing-sponsored Pontiacs made strong passes with Anderson's 6.701 elapsed time edging the 6.703 e.t. of Line.
"I had to run Jason in the second round and that's never an easy chore," Anderson said. "It's not what we want to do as teammates. We hate it when we have to run each other before the final round, but unfortunately it happened since I didn't get qualified where I needed to. That's just the way it worked out and we had a great race. We were, I think, just two thousandths apart, and he's doing a great job. I had tough races all day long and just had to grind it out."
In an all-Pontiac semifinal round Anderson had the misfortune of taking out his third Team Pontiac car of the day as he defeated Greg Stanfield in the Attitude Apparel Pontiac GXP. Anderson made the quickest pass of the weekend at 6.683 seconds to defeat Stanfield's 6.710 e.t. Anderson also had the fastest speed of the meet at 206.48 mph.
"This weekend was definitely a good shot in the arm for the team," Stanfield said. "but we actually struggled all weekend. It looks like we kind of hit on it a little bit in the semis, but the 'Rocket Man' (Anderson) over there is a little too strong for us right now. Bottom line, we have to go out there and perform every race until we get faster."
In Funny Car, Tony Pedregon and his Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS crew recorded their second win in the last three races (Chicago) and the third of the season (Gainesville, Chicago, Norwalk). Pedregon, who qualified sixth, defeated Jim Head in Round 1, points leader Tim Wilkerson in Round 2, and Ron Capps in the semifinals to face Robert Hight in his John Force Racing Ford in the money round. In the finals Pedregon had a winning elapsed time of 4.882 seconds at 306.26 mph to Hight's 4.903 e.t. at 304.74 mph for his 39th career win.
"I'm really proud of my guys," Pedregon said, "from (crew chief) Dickie Venables on down. That was a tough opponent that final round - it is any time we race a Force car. My crew chief, I think he read the conditions. What a good race. I know they were right there and we expected a tough one. Just to end up at the winner's circle at any of these events puts us right back in the game, and I think every race from this point on is going to be pretty important.
"Lane choice was never an issue in any of these races, and I want give a shout out to the Safety Safari crew out there. They dried the track and they made it safe for all of the racers. In the first round we just missed the setup a little bit, but after that we made a couple of 4.96 runs. I really felt good coming into this final because in the second round and semifinals the car really quit running at about 1100 or 1200 feet, so I knew there was more performance there. I think the clouds rolled in and that really played into our hands. Dickie told me he just made a couple of adjustments there because he knew what we were up against too."
This was the first event since the tragic accident in qualifying last weekend at Englishtown (N.J.) that claimed the life of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta.
"I dedicated this race to Scott's (Kalitta) kids and his wife. Take all of the racing away from us, and I didn't know Scott well, but I do know he was a good father and to me that hurts more than anything. I think the time off will help us all regroup, but we'll never forget him. You never forget a guy like Scott."
The next stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 29th annual Mile High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway on July 11-13, 2008, in Morrison, Colo.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 6.704ET/206.04MPH
Runner-up - Larry Morgan (Dodge), RED LIGHT (-.056)
No. 1 Qualifier - Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 6.716ET/205.51MPH
Low elapsed time - Greg Anderson, 6.683 seconds
Top Speed - Greg Anderson, 206.48MPH
Top 10 - 1. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 878; 2. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 826; 3. Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 777; 4. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 767; 5. Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 634; 6. V. Gaines (Dodge), 626; 7. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 615; 8. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP), 592; 9. Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt), 589; 10. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 534.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 4.882ET/306.26MPH
Runner-up - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.903ET/304.74MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.882ET/309.77MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala SS), 863; 2. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 712; 3. Ashley Force (Ford), 708; 4. Robert Hight (Ford), 690; 5. John Force (Ford), 661; 6. Cruz Pedregon (Toyota), 644; 7. Gary Densham (Chevy Impala SS), 581; 8. Ron Capps (Dodge), 580; 9. Mike Neff (Ford), 548; 10. Bob Tasca (Ford), 494.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Doug Herbert, 4.636ET/311.70MPH
Runner-up - Brandon Bernstein, 4.611ET/313.58MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Rod Fuller, 4.629ET/311.13MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 1062; 2. Antron Brown, 809; 3. Larry Dixon, 791; 4. Rod Fuller, 746; 5. Cory McClenathan, 710; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 705; 7. Hillary Will, 685; 8. Doug Herbert, 613; 9. Dave Grubnic, 531; 10. Doug Kalitta, 514.
Team Chevy 1-2 in Funny Car Points After Tony Pedregon's Victory
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NORWALK, Ohio, June 29, 2008 - After a disappointing loss in yesterday's final round of the K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus Pro Stock event and its $50,000 payday, Summit Racing Pontiac driver Greg Anderson set his sights on eliminations for today's second annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park.
His aim was true as Anderson defeated the Dodge driven by Larry Morgan in the Pro Stock finals for his class-leading fourth victory of the season in four final rounds and the 55th of his career. In the finals, Anderson drove his Pontiac to a winning elapsed time of 6.704 seconds at 206.04 mph as Morgan fouled at the start, and the three-time POWERade champ takes over top spot in the Pro Stock points standings with the win. Tony Pedregon in the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS also claimed his second Funny Car victory in the last three races to move into second place in the Funny Car standings behind points leader and fellow Chevy driver Tim Wilkerson.
"We certainly wanted to make amends today after getting beat in the finals of the K&N Horsepower Challenge," Anderson said, "and after all of the slugging, we got it done and made amends for last night. We also got some precious POWERade points and I think we probably made our sponsor happy too. It feels pretty good to win at a Summit-sponsored race. They're great people and we love the relationship we have with them. There's no better feeling in the world than to win a race that they sponsor. I'm very proud to race for them.
"I would love to have that No. 1 spot going into the Countdown and the 20 or 30 points that go with it. That's going to be large. That's certainly the goal, but we haven't done too well up until the last couple of weekends. But we've got a great race team over there and they're kind of beginning to show us the way home this year. That's all you can ask for when you come to the racetrack is a chance to win. For the last couple of months we haven't had that great of a chance to win, but we've got a hot rod now and I think we're back in the fight. We're going to keep swinging and make it better yet by the time we get to the Countdown. But there's a long way to go. There are a lot of great racers out here and every race is so unpredictable. NHRA Pro Stock is just a great class right now. It's such a battle out there and at the end of the day if you can find a way to win, you feel like you're King of the Mountain. It's incredible the competition level in this class right now and I'm just proud to be a part of it."
Anderson qualified an uncharacteristically poor ninth for today's eliminations, but today his Pontiac's performance continued to get better with each round. He defeated fellow Pontiac driver Mike Edwards with a 6.727 e.t. in Round 1 and then engaged in a classic side-by-side match-up in the second round with his teammate and No. 1 qualifier Jason Line. Both Summit Racing-sponsored Pontiacs made strong passes with Anderson's 6.701 elapsed time edging the 6.703 e.t. of Line.
"I had to run Jason in the second round and that's never an easy chore," Anderson said. "It's not what we want to do as teammates. We hate it when we have to run each other before the final round, but unfortunately it happened since I didn't get qualified where I needed to. That's just the way it worked out and we had a great race. We were, I think, just two thousandths apart, and he's doing a great job. I had tough races all day long and just had to grind it out."
In an all-Pontiac semifinal round Anderson had the misfortune of taking out his third Team Pontiac car of the day as he defeated Greg Stanfield in the Attitude Apparel Pontiac GXP. Anderson made the quickest pass of the weekend at 6.683 seconds to defeat Stanfield's 6.710 e.t. Anderson also had the fastest speed of the meet at 206.48 mph.
"This weekend was definitely a good shot in the arm for the team," Stanfield said. "but we actually struggled all weekend. It looks like we kind of hit on it a little bit in the semis, but the 'Rocket Man' (Anderson) over there is a little too strong for us right now. Bottom line, we have to go out there and perform every race until we get faster."
In Funny Car, Tony Pedregon and his Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS crew recorded their second win in the last three races (Chicago) and the third of the season (Gainesville, Chicago, Norwalk). Pedregon, who qualified sixth, defeated Jim Head in Round 1, points leader Tim Wilkerson in Round 2, and Ron Capps in the semifinals to face Robert Hight in his John Force Racing Ford in the money round. In the finals Pedregon had a winning elapsed time of 4.882 seconds at 306.26 mph to Hight's 4.903 e.t. at 304.74 mph for his 39th career win.
"I'm really proud of my guys," Pedregon said, "from (crew chief) Dickie Venables on down. That was a tough opponent that final round - it is any time we race a Force car. My crew chief, I think he read the conditions. What a good race. I know they were right there and we expected a tough one. Just to end up at the winner's circle at any of these events puts us right back in the game, and I think every race from this point on is going to be pretty important.
"Lane choice was never an issue in any of these races, and I want give a shout out to the Safety Safari crew out there. They dried the track and they made it safe for all of the racers. In the first round we just missed the setup a little bit, but after that we made a couple of 4.96 runs. I really felt good coming into this final because in the second round and semifinals the car really quit running at about 1100 or 1200 feet, so I knew there was more performance there. I think the clouds rolled in and that really played into our hands. Dickie told me he just made a couple of adjustments there because he knew what we were up against too."
This was the first event since the tragic accident in qualifying last weekend at Englishtown (N.J.) that claimed the life of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta.
"I dedicated this race to Scott's (Kalitta) kids and his wife. Take all of the racing away from us, and I didn't know Scott well, but I do know he was a good father and to me that hurts more than anything. I think the time off will help us all regroup, but we'll never forget him. You never forget a guy like Scott."
The next stop on the 24-race NHRA POWERade circuit is the 29th annual Mile High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway on July 11-13, 2008, in Morrison, Colo.
PRO STOCK
Winner - Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 6.704ET/206.04MPH
Runner-up - Larry Morgan (Dodge), RED LIGHT (-.056)
No. 1 Qualifier - Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 6.716ET/205.51MPH
Low elapsed time - Greg Anderson, 6.683 seconds
Top Speed - Greg Anderson, 206.48MPH
Top 10 - 1. Greg Anderson (Pontiac GXP), 878; 2. Kurt Johnson (Chevy Cobalt), 826; 3. Jason Line (Pontiac GXP), 777; 4. Jeg Coughlin (Chevy Cobalt), 767; 5. Mike Edwards (Pontiac GXP), 634; 6. V. Gaines (Dodge), 626; 7. Allen Johnson (Dodge), 615; 8. Greg Stanfield (Pontiac GXP), 592; 9. Ron Krisher (Chevy Cobalt), 589; 10. Warren Johnson (Pontiac GXP), 534.
FUNNY CAR
Winner - Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 4.882ET/306.26MPH
Runner-up - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.903ET/304.74MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Robert Hight (Ford), 4.882ET/309.77MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tim Wilkerson (Chevy Impala SS), 863; 2. Tony Pedregon (Chevy Impala SS), 712; 3. Ashley Force (Ford), 708; 4. Robert Hight (Ford), 690; 5. John Force (Ford), 661; 6. Cruz Pedregon (Toyota), 644; 7. Gary Densham (Chevy Impala SS), 581; 8. Ron Capps (Dodge), 580; 9. Mike Neff (Ford), 548; 10. Bob Tasca (Ford), 494.
TOP FUEL
Winner - Doug Herbert, 4.636ET/311.70MPH
Runner-up - Brandon Bernstein, 4.611ET/313.58MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Rod Fuller, 4.629ET/311.13MPH
Top 10 - 1. Tony Schumacher, 1062; 2. Antron Brown, 809; 3. Larry Dixon, 791; 4. Rod Fuller, 746; 5. Cory McClenathan, 710; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 705; 7. Hillary Will, 685; 8. Doug Herbert, 613; 9. Dave Grubnic, 531; 10. Doug Kalitta, 514.
