Englishtown: Greg Anderson Saturday summary

Anderson No. 1 qualifier for fifth consecutive race

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 23, 2007) -- Running both a track record elapsed time and a track speed, Greg Anderson, driver of the KB Racing LLC, Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GTO, took the No. 1 position on the final Pro Stock ladder for tomorrow's eliminations for the 38th annual NHRA ProCare Rx SuperNationals being contested this weekend at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J.

Anderson has earned the No. 1 qualifying position at Raceway Park twice previously (2003 and '04). For the season the 46-year-old driver, who was born in Duluth, Minn., and now lives in the Charlotte, N.C. area, has collected seven top spots, including the last five races in a row. In an outstanding career that is by no means close to ending, today's top spot was the 58th of his career.

Anderson, having qualified No. 1 in five consecutive races, is far from the record though, a record that may never be broken. Bob Glidden qualified No. 1 for 23 consecutive races in a span that covered the 1986-1988 race seasons.

In the opening qualifying session on Friday, Anderson set the pace with an elapsed time of 6.609 seconds at 209.62 mph, good for number one and a track speed record at the time. In the cooler night air in Friday's evening session, the three-time NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champ knocked three thousandths of a second off his opening run ending the first day of qualifying in the second qualifying slot with a pass of 6.606 seconds at 209.33 mph.

In Saturday's first qualifying session, the third overall, Anderson's Summit Racing Pontiac blazed the Raceway Park quarter-mile in 6.592 seconds, a track record elapsed time, and he upped his previous track record of Friday evening to 210.57 mph, to reclaim the No. 1 position. He didn't improve in the final session but did run the best elapsed time of the final qualifying passes -- a 6.607-second run at 209.49 mph.

"The Summit Racing Pontiac has been fantastic all year long," said Anderson. "I've had a great shot at every race we've been to this year. I certainly haven't won them all but I've had a horse that could win them all. That's so far beyond anything a driver could ask for. Some people get certain races where they're strong and certain ones where they're weak and they have to make it when they're at a strong race. The guys have been working on this racecar and preparing it, figuring out what to do every weekend. I'm a lucky man and it's because of the crew that surrounds me, my team owner Ken Black and great sponsors like Summit Racing, and Pontiac and Mac Tools and without a doubt I'm a lucky man."

Anderson will be going after his third win on the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park quarter-mile. Anderson won here in 2002 (over Jeg Coughlin) and 2003 (over Darrell Alderman). He will face Craig Hankinson in the opening round of eliminations. Hankinson claimed the No. 16 spot with an elapsed time of 6.643 seconds.

"He's has been a crew chief for a lot of years and he's been a driver for a lot of years," said Anderson of his first-round opponent. "He's has a brand-new car that he brought to the last race, and he qualified real well and made four great qualifying runs, and he's done the same thing here. Do I fear him? You're darn right I do. Anybody that makes the show at one of these things you have to fear, I don't care who you are. The whole field, top to bottom, is less than five-hundredths (apart). Anybody in the field has a shot at winning and it will come down to the driver and the guys tuning the car, but they're all going to be close. We're going to need a total team effort whether we're racing Craig Hankinson or anyone else we may line up against."

-credit: kbr