Eliminations in Norwalk
For two rounds on Saturday at the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, things were
going according to plan for Greg Anderson. His Summit Racing GXP was the class of the field,
posting a stellar 6.644-second time, moving him to the top of the Pro Stock leader board and
eventually earning the No. 1 qualifying position for Sunday's final eliminations. This was the
72nd No. 1 qualifying performance of his career, third of 2009, and the second time in three years
the three-time champion had accomplished this feat at Summit Motorsports Park.
However, running in conjunction with the second day of qualifying was the K&N Horsepower Challenge,
a Pro Stock specialty race pitting the top eight qualifiers for the last year aga inst each other
in a three-round, single elimination event paying $50,000 to the winner. Coming in as the No. 1
qualifier, Anderson advanced to the final for the second consecutive year and fifth time in seven
career attempts, defeating Ron Krisher and teammate Jason Line with two of the quickest runs of the
day.
Unfortunately, just as it seemed Anderson would claim his third win in this event, his race car
shook the tires almost immediately after hitting the throttle, shooting him to the left and forcing
to lift early, allowing his opponent to drive on for the win.
Despite the initial disappointment, Anderson was encouraged by his race car's improved performance,
and looked to use Saturday's results as added motivation for race day.
"Today was definitely a learning experience, especially in the final round of the K&N Horsepower
Challenge," said Anderson. "The track got hot and very slick today, and for the most part we did a
good job as a team getting our Summit Racing GXP to work on that type of surface.
"Unfortunately, in the final, it got a little bit slicker after the Top Fuel cars ran, and we
didn't calm the car down enough. As a result, it shook the tires right away. That was a shame,
especially with all that money on the line.
"But there are still a lot of positives for us t his weekend. We had a really good test in
Michigan to prepare for these types of conditions, and I now have a really good hot rod. This is
best we've run in a long time, and if we can knock out those mistakes, we'll put this Summit Racing
Pontiac back in the winner's circle. I love this racetrack, and I've had a lot of success here, so
I can't wait to come back tomorrow to take care of business."
Established in 1968, Summit Racing Equipment is the leading high performance parts and accessories
company. Summit Racing offers the largest selection, lowest prices, and best customer service in
the high performance industry via catalogs, Internet, and Retail Super Stores. The company is
headquartered in Tallmadge, Ohio with retail locations in Tallmadge, Ohio; Sparks, Nevada; and
McDonough, Georgia.
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