Sat, 25 Jun 2011, 09:50 PM Anderson Wins Second Consecutive K&N Horsepower Challenge

Courtesy of NHRA Communications Photo copyright 2011 Auto Imagery, Inc. Hight, Worsham, Enders, Arana Jr. No. 1 in Norwalk

NORWALK, Ohio --

Anderson vs. Edwards

Greg Anderson raced to his second consecutive K&N Horsepower Challenge win, the special Pro Stock race-within-a-race bonus event Saturday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

Robert Hight, Del Worsham, Erica Enders, and Hector Arana Jr. also raced to the No. 1 qualifying spots in their respective categories at the 10th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Anderson drove his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP to an impressive 6.587-second run at 209.17 mph in the final round to hold off Mike Edwards and pick up the win and $50,000 paycheck that comes along with it. It was Anderson’s fourth K&N Horsepower Challenge win in nine career appearances.

“Four titles at the K&N (Horsepower) Challenge is just cool,” said Anderson. “It’s a beautiful trophy, and it’s just a neat, neat deal, and $50,000 cash, that’s just so exciting for us. It seems like back in the day when I worked with Kurt (Johnson) and I worked with Warren (Johnson), it seemed like Kurt was winning every year they had this event. It’s taken a lot of years to try and get close to him, and now we’ve tied him, and now, obviously, the next goal is to try and go ahead of him. But we’re just going to enjoy the moment right now.”

Robert Hight

Hight followed up his recent win in Bristol by taking the No. 1 qualifying spot in Funny Car when he drove his Auto Club Ford Mustang to a 4.065 run at 306.53. It’s Hight’s first No. 1 qualifier of the season, 39th of his career and third at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

“18 races without being the No. 1 qualifier is a long time for this team,” said Hight. “In all honesty, it’s paid off. Jimmy Prock likes to swing for the fences, but he’s been more focused on consistency. We looked back at what we’ve done in the past, and we’ve won more rounds when we’ve had a car that goes down the track every run.”

Hight will face off against Jeff Arend in the first round of eliminations, while teammate and current points leader Mike Neff will face two-time world champion Tony Pedregon.

Del Worsham

In Top Fuel, Worsham powered his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to the top of the field. Worsham drove to a 3.798-second run at 318.54 mph to take his third No. 1 qualifier of the season and eighth of his career.

“It was a great run,” said Worsham. “I only qualified No. 1 five times before this season, and we’ve done it three times this season alone. It’s pretty exciting driving for Al-Anabi, Shiekh Khalid (Al Thani), Alan Johnson, and Brian (Husen).”

Worsham will face Luigi Novelli in the first round of eliminations Sunday, while defending event winner and Bristol winner Larry Dixon will face Bob Vandergriff.

Erica Enders

Enders held off a competitive class to take the top spot in Pro Stock. Enders drove her ZaZa Energy Chevy Cobalt to a 6.585 run, a new track record, at 209.10 to earn her second No. 1 qualifier of the season and third of the season.

“The run we made out there today was awesome,” said Enders. “We laid down a pretty stout run. I knew it when I let the clutch out. It just carried the front end real nice. Earlier this morning, our first run, we knew we had to get down the racetrack considering we were only going to get two (rounds).”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, rookie rider Arana Jr. raced to the No. 1 qualifying position. Arana Jr. rode his Lucas Oil Buell to a 6.887 at 191.59 run to take his first career No. 1 qualifier and a career best for time.

Hector Arana Jr.

“It’s just an amazing feeling to be No. 1,” said Arana Jr. “We’ve been struggling the first couple of races this season, and as you can see, we finally got our stuff together. This weekend, I have a brand new motor in my bike, and that was the first pass down the track when I ran the .88, and her name is Gracie after my mother. She’s doing good so far.”

Eliminations begin Sunday at 11 a.m.

Final round-by-round results from the 27th annual K&N Pro Stock Horsepower Challenge at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the special race within race at Fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. K&N HORSEPOWER CHALLENGE:

ROUND ONE -- Greg Anderson, Pontiac GXP, 6.605, 209.17 def. Ron Krisher, GXP, 10.709, 84.33; Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.596, 208.84 def. Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.663, 199.43; Shane Gray, GXP, 6.621, 208.52 def. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 12.090, 72.06; Erica Enders, Chevy Cobalt, 6.585, 209.10 def. Jason Line, GXP, 6.589, 208.17;

SEMIFINALS -- Edwards, 6.626, 208.84 def. Gray, foul; Anderson, 6.583, 209.52 def. Enders, 6.649, 205.47;

FINAL -- Anderson, 6.587, 209.17 def. Edwards, 6.632, 208.65.