Anderson Reaches Fourth Final Round of 2015 at Kansas Nationals

Greg Anderson logged a second straight final-round finish at the NHRA Kansas Nationals. It was the four-time Pro Stock champion’s fourth final round appearance of the season.

The Summit Racing Pro Stock team has been in the final round at five of the first eight races of the year. Anderson and teammate Jason Line have been in two all-Summit Racing final rounds, first at the Gatornationals in Gainesville and last week at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta. Anderson won the Gatornationals and Line won in Atlanta.

“We had a good day today,” said Anderson. “We came up a little bit short, but we’re going to get my Summit Racing Chevy Camaro back in the winner’s circle. There are a lot of tough cars in this class, so it’s certainly not easy to win, but we’re right there. We have a chance every time we come to the race track.”

Anderson qualified number two with a 6.526 second, 211.20 MPH pass, his best starting position this season. Anderson met up with Dave River in Round One of eliminations. The pair were nearly identical in terms of reaction times (0.063 and 0.064 seconds respectively), but Anderson took the win with a 6.588/209.04 pass to Rivers’ 6.830/195.34.

Shane Gray got the starting line advantage over Anderson in Round Two, but Anderson had the quicker car and moved quickly down the quarter-mile for the win, 6.609/208.68 to 6.642/207.88. In the semifinals, Anderson had a clean 0.020 second reaction time, but the win light was already flashing in his lane as opponent Chris McGaha had left 0.028 second too soon and illuminated the red light.

In the final round matchup, Erica Enders got the starting line advantage and never looked back, defeating Anderson 6.584/209.33 to 6.591/209.14.

“We’re eager to get to Englishtown and the next race, but we’re going to do some testing with our Summit Racing Camaros,” Anderson said. “We’re still learning every day, and we’re still digging. We’re not going to be happy until we’re outrunning everybody out there. It’s going to be an exciting summer, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Anderson still holds third place in the Pro Stock points standings.

Line Out Early
Jason Line’s weekend in Topeka was not exactly in line with his performance as of late. The driver of the blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro qualified fifth with a 6.535/210.67, off his pace of three consecutive Number One qualifiers.

In Round One of eliminations against V. Gaines, Line ran into trouble just off the starting line and slowed to a 7.334/143.05 to Gaines’ 6.632/206.73.

“We had a small issue there, and that’s really unfortunate,” said Line, “But it’s just one of those things, and we have another race coming up in just a couple of weeks where we hope to have a much different outcome. The Summit Racing team will work as hard as we can before then, I can promise you that. We don’t like going home early, and we’ll do everything in our power not to have this happen again.”

Line is currently second in the Pro Stock points standings.

Team Summit Results: Top Fuel
Doug Kalitta qualified 12th (3.786/316.90). He defeated Shawn Langdon and J.R. Todd in the first two rounds of eliminations, but lost to Larry Dixon in the semifinals. Kalitta is currently fifth in the points standings.
J.R. Todd qualified fourth (3.759/328.06). He defeated Dave Connolly in Round One but lost to Doug Kalitta in Round Two. Todd is currently eighth in the points standings.

Team Summit Results: Funny Car
Tim Wilkerson qualified second (3.971/322.58). He defeated Tony Pedregon in Round One but lost to Del Worsham in Round Two. Wilkerson is currently eighth in the points standings.
Del Worsham qualified 10th (4.013/309.98). He defeated Alexis DeJoria and Tim Wilkerson in the first two rounds of eliminations, but lost to Jack Beckman in the semifinals. Worsham is currently fourth in the points standings.
Alexis DeJoria qualified seventh (3.994/255.92) but lost to Del Worsham in Round One. She is currently tied for ninth in the points standings.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel: Richie Crampton defeated Larry Dixon, 3.738/318.09 to 3.787/308.28.
Funny Car: Jack Beckman defeated John Force. 3.984/316.45 to 4.002/324.51.
Pro Stock: Erica Enders defeated Greg Anderson, 6.584/209.33 to 6.591/209.14.

Next Race
The next event is the Toyota NHRA Summernationals, June 5-7 in Englishtown, New Jersey. Visit Drag Race Central for more news and in-depth results from the NHRA Kansas Nationals:
http://www.dragracecentral.com/