For the better part of his 12-year driving career, Greg Anderson has set the bar for Pro Stock
excellence. In the last nine years, no one in the category has come close to matching the Summit
Racing Pontiac driver's 57 national event wins. In addition, his 76 elimination round wins in 2004
were the most in the history of the NHRA, earning the Minnesota native the prestigious Driver of
the Year award, which was only the second time this honor had been bestowed on a member of the drag
racing community. Simply put, if Anderson enters a race, he is immediately considered a favorite
to go home with the Wally.
Therefore, his showing so far in 2009 has to be considered somewhat of an anomaly. Although most
would consider it a solid performance, sitting fourth in points and on the verge of securing his
spot in the NHRA's playoffs, with only one final round appearance in the first 14 races, it is a
victory drought Anderson is determined to end as soon as possible. Fortunately, entering this
weekend's Fram Autolite Nationals in Sonoma, CA, the three-time champion's confidence is buoyed by
the knowledge that his KB Racing team is more than up to the task, as evidenced by teammate Jason
Line's three wins and five final round appearances.
"There is no denying this is the roughest spell of my career," said Anderson. "But I prefer to see
it as testing my mettle, so I'm not about to pack my tent and give up. I'm going to keep swinging,
and it will turn around, hopefully sooner rather than later .
"The best thing is that I keep being reminded and shown how great a team I have around me. This
Summit Racing team is the best. We're not the fastest cars right now which is a little hard for us
to swallow, but we're still battling, clawing and digging, winning however we have to.
"Jason and the KB Racing crew are doing a fantastic job. There were two cars that were faster than
us in Seattle, but we still made it to the final by beating one of those two, and almost took out
the other one in the final. We're putting up a good fight, and we will make it back to the
winner's circle with my car, hopefully this weekend in Sonoma."
If there was one track on the Full Throttle tour that would lend itself to be the scene for
Anderson's return to the winner's circle, Infineon Raceway, site of this weekend's event, would be
a leading candidate. In his eighth previous visits to the Napa Valley, he has three wins in five
final round appearances, with a phenomenal 80% elimination round win percentage.
"I love going to Sonoma," said Anderson. "I've always run well at Infineon Raceway - it's a good
track, with a smooth racing surface and the air is usually pretty good. We hope we don't get the
extreme heat they're forecasting, because the race conditions would be perfect, maybe better than
we had in Seattle. We won't have to make as many changes to our set-up as we did after Denver, so
I don't foresee any majo r problems. We should run well there.
"We're in the ballpark, but need to eke a little more out of our cars to get closer to those top
two guys, so we'll keep chiseling at it throughout the weekend. I'm looking forward to racing at
Infineon, because as long as I keep going back to the track with my Summit Racing team, I get a
chance to turn things around, which is all I can ask right now. I can't wait to get there and
get these Pontiacs cranked back up."
Fast Facts on Greg Anderson & the Summit Racing GXP crew at the Fram Autolite Nationals:
Greg has excelled in the Napa Valley: In eight career starts at Infineon Raceway, Greg has three
wins in five final round appearances tying him with Warren Johnson, Darrell Alderman and Jim Yates
for the most wins by a Pro Stock driver in Sonoma.
Most recent win in Sonoma - a personal landmark: Greg's most recent Sonoma win came in 2007, when
he qualified #1 and defeated Bob Panella, Jim Yates, David Connolly and Jason Line for the landmark
50th national event win of his career.
Greg has been up front in Sonoma qualifying: Greg has been the No. 1 qualifier five times in Sonoma
(in eight career starts), and has an average starting spot of 2.4.
Event Schedule:
Friday, July 24: Two qualifying sessions at 4:00 & 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 25: Two qualifying sessions at 11:30 a.m. & 2:15 p.m.
Sunday, July 26: Final eliminations starting at 11:00 a.m.
Television Coverage (all coverage on ESPN2):
Qualifying: Saturday, July 25 - 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Eliminations: Sunday, July 26 - 9:00 p.m. - 12:00 midnight
RaceDay: Sunday, July 26 - 11:00 - 11:30 a.m.
(All times Eastern)
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. For more information, please visit http://www.summitracing.com
