Anderson No. 1 at Indy 50th of career, 10th of year
CLERMONT, Ind. (September 3, 2006) – To say that Greg Anderson likes the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals and the track at O’Reilly Raceway Park (ORP) in Indianapolis would be an understatement.
Today he added another No. 1 qualifying position to his already impressive statistics here. Anderson, who drives the KB Racing LLC-owned, Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GTO, covered the ORP quarter-mile in track record fashion, recording a pass of 6.662 seconds at 206.95 mph to earn his 10th No. 1 of the 2006 NHRA POWERade schedule and the 50th of his Pro Stock driving career which began in 1998. It was his third top qualifying position at ORP (2004-2006). Both his elapsed time and speed reset the O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis track records.
Now the three-time and defending Pro Stock NHRA POWERade champion turns his attention to winning his fifth Pro Stock title at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. He will face the No. 16 qualifier, Dave Northrop, in the opening round of eliminations tomorrow. Northrop’s best qualifying pass was an elapsed time of 6.717 seconds.
“I feel confident about my chances at this year’s Mac Tools Nationals,” said Anderson. “We’ve been so close the last two or three weeks and I think if there is any track on the circuit that can get us started on a win streak, it’s Indy. We’ve had a lot of success here, I love the racetrack. I love the race. I love the whole aura about the weekend and I love hoisting that trophy at the end of the weekend. We’re certainly driven harder when we come here to win.
“That doesn’t mean they're just going to hand me the trophy if I don’t do my job. They're not going to just give it to me because I’ve had a lot of success here. I’m going to have to prove I deserve it. I think we’re ready to do that. I’ve got to earn it though.”
Anderson has won this event the last three years consecutively and has four wins in five final rounds. Only Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden and Warren Johnson have more U.S. National wins than Anderson. Glidden has nine and WJ has six.
The Duluth, Minn.-born driver, who now lives in Mooresville, N.C. advanced to his first final round in 1999 before losing to his former boss and mentor, Warren Johnson. Two years later in 2001, Anderson once again advanced to the final round. This time he took home his first U.S. Nationals trophy with a final-round win over Mark Osborne. In 2003, Anderson won the first of his three consecutive U.S. Nationals titles with a final-round victory over Kurt Johnson, repeating the feat in 2004 when he defeated Kenny Koretsky and then he got the best of Richie Stevens in 2005.
Anderson begins his quest for his fourth consecutive win at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals tomorrow, Monday, Sept. 4, with eliminations for all classes beginning at 11 a.m. Time is local Indianapolis time (ET) and subject to change at anytime.
