Anderson Makes Semifinals at U.S. Nationals

The Chevrolet Performance NHRA U.S. Nationals proved to be a heartbreaker for Greg Anderson. He was gunning for the points lead and had the car to get it done, but a tough outcome in the semifinals ended his hopes for a win.

The good news is that Anderson had the quickest and fastest race car on the property, and is powering full steam ahead into the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

Anderson earned his fourth U.S. Nationals Number One qualifier with a 6.562 second, 210.70 MPH run. He met up with Aaron Stanfield in Round One of eliminations. The pair did their respective burnouts and began the staging process. Anderson moved into the final beam and waited for his young opponent to do the same, but when the allotted seven seconds were up, Stanfield had not moved and was disqualified. Anderson raced ahead for the automatic win, clocking a 6.602/209.85 pass—the quickest and fastest pass of the round.

Anderson came up against Bo Butner in Round Two. Both had near-identical reaction times (Anderson with a .025, Butner a .023) but Anderson shut the door with a 6.605/209.39 to Butner’s 6.639/209.04.

Anderson had lane choice in the semifinals against Erica Enders. Enders was off the starting line first with a .013 second reaction time, which was enough to take the win with a 6.618, 209.39 over Anderson’s quicker and faster 6.591/ 210.41.

“My Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro was a great car today, no question,” said Anderson. “I wish I could have that run over, but I can’t—that’s drag racing. Everything else was a positive, though. Everybody knew I had the best car here, and that’s the good news for this race team. My Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is absolutely fantastic and consistent as can be.”

“This will sting for awhile, but we're going to test next week,” Anderson continued. “Hopefully, we’ll be even better when we get to Charlotte for the first race of the Countdown. I still think we’re going to have a better car. We should be able to win it. We just need to get our ducks in a row, regroup, and go do it.”

Anderson finishes the NHRA regular season in second place with 1,499 points.

Line Finishes Regular Season Fourth in Points
An Indy win is one that Jason Line has wanted for a long time. On Labor Day Monday in Indy, Line pushed hard to accomplish the task at hand but came up on the wrong side of the tree in the second round of eliminations.

Line qualified seventh with a 6.580/209.95 pass. He drew Deric Kramer as a first-round opponent. The pair launched nearly in sync, but it was the blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro taking win as Line crossed the finish line first with a 6.626/208.59 to Kramer’s 6.665/208.42.

The day came to an end in Round Two thanks to Line’s .063-second red light. Nobile got the win light with a 6.621/209.30 to Line's 6.647/208.10.

“Today was a tough day for the Summit Racing team,” said Line. “We really wanted that Indy win, but we are going into the Countdown with a positive attitude after making some good moves in the right direction. My teammate’s car is really good right now, and that's definitely a positive. We wanted to have the Number One car going into the Countdown, but now we we’ll do our best and make up the difference in these next few races.”

Line finishes the NHRA regular season in fourth place with 1,275 points.

Team Summit Results: Top Fuel
Doug Kalitta qualified 16th (3.995/290.63). He defeated Larry Dixon in Round One of eliminations, but lost to Shawn Langdon in Round Two. Doug finished the regular season seventh in the points standings.
J.R. Todd qualified fifth (3.795/323.58) but lost to Antron Brown in Round One. Todd finished the regular season eighth in the points standings.

Team Summit Results: Funny Car
Tim Wilkerson qualified fifth (3.998/319.75). He defeated Tony Pedregon in Round One but lost to Del Worsham in Round Two. Wilkerson finished the regular season eighth in the points standings.
Del Worsham qualified fourth (3.978/322.11). He defeated Chad Head and Tim Wilkerson in the first two rounds of eliminations, but lost to Jack Beckman in the semifinals. Worsham finished the regular season fourth in the points standings.
Alexis DeJoria qualified sixth (4.000/314.97) but lost to Courtney Force in Round One. DeJoria finished the regular season 10th in the points standings.

Team Summit Results: Pro Mod
Kenny Lang did not qualify for the event (6.024/243.24). He is currently 12th in the points standings.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel: Morgan Lucas defeated Dave Connolly, 3.864/319.90 to 6.235/83.47.
Funny Car: Jack Beckman defeated Robert Hight, 4.058/310.77 to 4.045/309.77.
Pro Stock: Erica Enders defeated Drew Skillman, 6.611/209.75 to 6.606/209.98.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Jerry Savoie defeated Chip Ellis, 7.011/193.02 to 6.857/196.24.
Pro Mod: Rick Snavely defeated Mike Janis, 5.890/257.53 to 5.945/242.50.

Next Race
The next event is the NHRA Carolina Nationals, September 18-20 in Concord, North Carolina. Visit Drag Race Central for more news and in-depth results from the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.