Anderson, Line, Wilkerson Ready to Win at Summit Racing Nationals

The pressure to win a race goes up by several orders of magnitude when it's your sponsor's name on the billboard. That's what Greg Anderson, Jason Line, and Tim Wilkerson will deal with at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals this weekend at Summit Racing Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

For Anderson, it's a chance to step up and narrow the gap between himself and Pro Stock points leader Bo Butner. Butner leads second place Anderson by 110 points going into the Norwalk race. Anderson has more wins at Summit Motorsports Park than any other Pro Stock driver.

"We like the pressure to perform that we always have here; we thrive on that," Anderson said. "You want to see those folks from Summit Racing smiling at the end of the weekend, and it does give you a little extra kick.

"We've got that home-field advantage but and the class is tough. We know we can still beat these guys--we proved it in Englishtown (Anderson won the NHRA Toyota Nationals in Engiishtown, NJ). I think having those hard-working Summit Racing Equipment employees with us is going to keep us even more determined and focused on doing well. A win for them at their home race is the ultimate goal this weekend."

There is even more pressure on Anderson's KB Racing teammate Jason Line. He won the 2017 Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in an all-Summit Racing final round against Anderson, and a repeat performance would go a long way to improving Line's points position.

"Our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros can win, and we've shown that this year," Line said. "I think we're going in the right direction and that we've seen small improvements every weekend. We just have to stay on course and keep making those improvements as the season progresses."

"There aren't a lot of things that can compare to winning for your sponsor at their main event," Line continued. "It is something that we work hard to do every time we come to this race. We have a good time here, but the bottom line is that we want to put a Summit Racing Chevy Camaro in the winner's circle. That's the best way to show Summit Racing our gratitude, and you can bet we'll be doing our best to make that happen."

Funny Car racer Tim Wilkerson is looking to build on his performance last weekend at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. He set Low Elapsed Time and Top Speed of the event (3.895 seconds/328.22 MPH) and moved up to eighth place in the Funny Car points standings. 

"We sure love that race track," Wilkerson said. "Summit Motorsports Park has a great, old-school atmosphere. It's just a fun race. Bill Bader and the Bader family do a terrific job of making sure that everyone in the Cleveland area knows that this is where they need to be.

"The greatest thing about being involved with Summit Racing is that they always support us," Wilkerson contnued. "It's very special to be part of Team Summit, and to come to the races and represent them. We want to make them look good. Hopefully we can go some more rounds this weekend. We've won with them before, and it's just a ton of fun to see how excited they get."

Wilkerson won at Nowalk in 2010, defeating the legendary John Force in the final.

"I'll never forgetting beating Force," Wilkerson said. "It was hot and humid, and there was a big storm in the forecast. [Because of the weather], nobody was making it down the track. But sometimes you get it figured out. We made a real good run in the final,  and it ended up being a good day. It's fun to look back on it, but we're pretty focused on what we have to do this time around."

Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals Schedule (All Times EST)

Thursday, June 22
Sportsman qualifying begin at 8:30 am

Friday, June 23
Sportsman eliminations begin at 8 am
Pro qualifying session 1 begin at 5:15 pm
Pro qualifying session 2 begin at 7:45 pm

Saturday, June 24
Sportsman eliminations begin at 8 am
Pro qualifying session 3 begin at 12:45 pm
Pro qualifying session 4 begin at 3:15 pm

Sunday, June 18
Eliminations begin at 11 am

Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Television Schedule on FOX Sports 1 (All Times EST)
Friday, June 23: One hour of qualifying coverage at 10:30 pm
Saturday, June 24: One hour of qualifying coverage at 12 am
Sunday, June 25: Three hours of finals coverage at 6 pm