Anderson Looks to Replay Triumph in Denver

NHRA's Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour kicks off the Western Swing this weekend with the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Denver, Colorado. The Swing, which also includes events in Sonoma, California and Seattle, Washington, has long been a feared block of races. The back-to-back-to back races stretch competitors, teams and crew chiefs to their limits as they battled vastly varying conditions far from home base.

For a select few, however, the Western Swing has marked a moment of glory. Only seven drivers in NHRA history swept all three races. Summit Racing’s Greg Anderson is one of them, triumphing in 2004. In fact, he is the only Pro Stock driver to do so.

No driver has swept the Western Swing more than once, and no driver has done it since 2009.  Winning the Mile-High Nationals is perhaps the toughest of the three events to win. Bandimere Speedway sits way up in the Rocky Mountains, and conditions at the high altitude race track pose a challenge for tuners as they work to extract every bit of horsepower from naturally aspirated engines starving for air. Anderson's KB Racing team has done a great job of tuning for this event. Anderson has one the Mile-High Nationals twice, and has qualified Number One four times.

"It's a very tough place to race, but we have had some success there," said Anderson. "Lately, the Mopar race cars have run well there and have a good combination for what that track wants, but that just puts an extra challenge out there for us. We would love to put one of our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros on the pole and in the winner's circle on Sunday. There is nothing we would like better than to beat those guys on their home turf."

Currently eleventh in the Pro Stock points standings and aiming for the Top 10 before the Countdown to the Championship begins in September, Anderson takes experience into account when it comes to tackling the mile-high conditions at Bandimere Speedway.

"We have a lot of notes from racing in Denver, a lot of notes," said Anderson. "The KB Racing crew has been working very hard on our engine package, and I think we've made a little bit of headway in the last week or so. We're closer to where we need to be, so we're anxious to go race. I expect our Summit Racing Camaros to do well this weekend."

You can follow Greg Anderson and the rest of Team Summit's performance at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals on Drag Race Central.

Greg Anderson By the Numbers, Mile-High Nationals Edition
2: Wins by Anderson, most recently in 2008.
4: Number One qualifying performances prior to this weekend.
19: Elimination round wins in 13 previous starts in Denver.

Event Schedule (All Times Mountain)
Friday, July 18: Two qualifying sessions at 4:45 and 7:15 pm
Saturday, July 19: Two qualifying sessions at 3:15 and 5:45 pm
Sunday, July 20: Final eliminations starting at 11:00 am

Television Coverage (All Times Eastern)
Saturday, July 19: Qualifying, 11:00 pm to 1:00 am on ESPN2
Sunday, July 20: Eliminations, 2:30 to 6:00 pm on ESPN