Anderson Earns 95th Pole Position, Wins Seventh K&N Horsepower Challenge in Las Vegas

The weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a good one for Team Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson. Not only did Anderson claim a record seventh K&N Horsepower Challenge trophy, he earned the 95th pole of his career in qualifying for the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
 
The K&N Horsepower Challenge victory was Anderson’s third consecutive win in the special race that pits the best of the best in Pro Stock against one another for the $50,000 purse and major bragging rights.
 
“This blows my mind,” said Anderson. “K&N has just been so wonderful to this class and this sport. It’s an honor to get that big check up there. That’s big money to us, and will go a long way towards making our racecars go faster. I can’t thank K&N enough.”
 
Sunday saw Anderson record top speed of the meet, and his KB Racing team sent two cars to the final round at the four-wide inaugural event.

In Round Two of eliminations, Anderson recorded a 207.62 MPH pass that was the fastest of any Pro Stocker all weekend. However, the 6.680 second pass wasn’t enough to advance to the final. KB Racing-powered Bo Butner and Deric Kramer each advanced to the final round. Kramer logged a runner-up finish, and Butner, who finished third in his quad, technically recorded a semifinals finish.

“We got off to a decent start,” said Anderson, who was the quickest of his quad in Round One of eliminations with a 6.668/206.57 pass. “We just made a mistake in the second round and blew the tires off. In this class, there is no room for error. I can’t wait to get to Houston and get back on track.”

Jason Line qualified sixth and raced Drew Skillman, Bo Butner, and Steve Graham in Round One of eliminations. Unfortunately, a .012 second red light start ended his day.

“I just made a mistake, and you can’t make mistakes if you want to win,” said Line. “There are a lot of fast cars and really good teams out here. But we’re going in the right direction, and I remain hopeful.”

Bo Butner, who went to the final round in the K&N Horsepower Challenge, was pleased to make it to the final round of the main event.

“Today, even with the outcome as it was, we were blessed and very, very fortunate,” said Butner. “But when you get to a final round in four-wide, you’re not just beating one driver—you’ve got to beat three to win. We had a good day. The KB Racing guys were great, and they never quit trying.”

Tim Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang had a new chassis and carbon fiber Funny Car body for the weekend. After a bit of trouble in the Round One of qualifying, a change of tires made the difference. Wilkerson managed the starting line well for the next four passes, but in Round One of eliminations, the tires went up in smoke.

Wilkerson recorded a 4.855/172.36 pass and was defeated by Tommy Johnson Jr.’s 4.030/316.01 and Del Worsham’s 4.496/244.25. Matt Hagan was eliminated by red light.

“The good news is that my car was acting well this weekend, and the team is coming together with a few new guys,” said Wilkerson. “We’ll go on to Houston and see what we can do.”

Final Round Results
Top Fuel—Steve Torrence (3.771/326.63) defeated Tony Schumacher (3.790/325.22), Doug Kalitta (3.914/273.27), and Antron Brown (4.097/252.52)

Funny Car— J.R. Todd (4.041/317.05) defeated Jack Beckman (4.052/312.21), Courtney Force (4.007/300.53), and Tommy Johnson Jr. (Foul)

Pro Stock—Vincent Nobile (6.690/206.80) defeated Deric Kramer (6.678/206.45), Bo Butner (6.682/206.57), and Chris McGaha (Foul)

What’s Next
The next event on the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour is the NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway, in Baytown, Texas, April 20-22.


For more information and complete race results visit DragRaceCentral.com.