Anderson Wins Again at Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals

Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing Pro Stock team earned win Number Four this season at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. It was Anderson’s 78th career national event win and his third at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. Most importantly, the victory put Anderson back in first place in the Pro Stock points standings.

“It was a pretty good day at the office,” said Anderson. “We went through qualifying and just didn’t feel like we had done a good job, but we knew we had to rebound and put our heads together overnight and we got it right today.”

Anderson qualified seventh with a 6.555 second, 211.56 MPH pass. He defeated Allen Johnson in Round One of eliminations, 6.553/211.76 mph to 6.592/210.47. The win was Anderson’s 900th career round win; only 11 drivers have contested 900 rounds or more in NHRA competition.

Anderson defeated Jonathan Gray in Round Two, 6.575/211.46, to 6.620/210.11. This victory put Anderson back at the top of the points standings.

Anderson took the win in the semifinals, running a 6.594/211.83 to opponent Chris McGaha’s troubled 8.841/107.77 packing. That set up the final round match with Drew Skillman. The drivers cut near-identical reaction times (.022 second for Anderson, .026 second for Skillman). The starting line advantage was just enough to give Anderson the win, 6.592/212.19 to Skillman’s 6.594/211.43.

“I feel proud to be part of this Summit Racing team,” said Anderson. “We have a great group here. Pro Stock is a dogfight every week, and you feel fantastic at the end of the day if you can find a way to conquer it—and if you can win your sponsor’s event, it doesn’t get any better than that. It’s great to have the folks from Summit Racing here to share this with us. It means the world, and that’s what got us to the winner’s circle today, without a doubt.”

Line Gets Semifinal Finish
Despite issues during qualifying that put Jason Line in 12th place, his blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro came to life on Sunday in Norwalk. Line had one of the quickest cars on the property, and he collected two round wins en route to a semifinals finish that reminded the class he is always a contender.

“I had a good car today—it was definitely not the same race car we had on Friday and Saturday,” said a pleasingly surprised Line. “It was a great day for our team as Greg Anderson won the race. It would have been nice to have both of our Chevys in the final, but after today I feel a lot better going to the next race.”

Line defeated Vincent Nobile in Round One of eliminations, 6.550/211.66 to 6.557/211.79 and recorded low elapsed time of eliminations in the process. Line defeated Larry Morgan in a closely contested race in Round Two, 6.583/210.73 to 6.583/211.63, the met up with Drew Skillman in the semifinals. Line ran a quicker and faster 6.568/211.69, but Skillman’s .032 second starting line advantage gave him the win with a 6.588/211.36.

“We’ve been testing a lot of things the last few weeks, and we had think about some of the things we’d done,” said Line. “We kind of went back to square one, and now we have a good hot rod again. We’re pretty excited to get to Chicago next week and get back to it.”

Line is currently third in the Pro Stock points standings.

Abruzzi Runs Well in Top Dragster and Top Sportsman
Summit Racing-sponsored Marco Abruzzi qualified 13th in Top Dragster during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, He defeated Lauren Freer and Shanna Snyder in the first two rounds of eliminations, but lost to Ron Biondo in Round Three. Abruzzi then jumped into his 1968 Camaro and qualified 22nd in Top Sportsman. He defeated Paul Pittman in Round One, but lost to Royce Freeman in Round Two.

Team Summit Results: Top Fuel
Doug Kalitta qualified Number One (3.731/327.82). He defeated Chris Karamesines, Steve Torrence, and Clay Millican to reach the final round, where he defeated Antron Brown to win the event. Kalitta is currently third in the points standings.
J.R. Todd qualified ninth (3.790/321.96) but lost to Steve Torrence in Round One of eliminations. He is currently ninth in the points standings.

Team Summit Results: Funny Car
Tim Wilkerson qualified 10th (4.063/319.52) He defeated Chad Head and Cruz Pedregon in the first two rounds of eliminations, but lost to Jack Beckman in the semis. Wilkerson is currently eighth in the points standings.
Del Worsham qualified fourth (4.005/321.42). He defeated Jeff Diehl and Alexis DeJoria in the first two rounds of eliminations, but lost to Courtney Force in the semis. Worsham is currently fourth in the points standings.
Alexis DeJoria qualified 12th (4.097/309.49). She defeated Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round One, but lost to Del Worsham in Round Two. DeJoria is currently 10th in the points standings.

Team Summit Results: Pro Mod
Kenny Lang did not qualify (6.051/241.97). He is currently 10th in the points standings.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel: Doug Kalitta defeated Antron Brown, 3.823/322.34 to 3.918/307.79.
Funny Car: Jack Beckman defeated Courtney Force 4.211/301.67 to 4.609/199.64.
Pro Stock: Greg Anderson defeated Drew Skillman 6.592/212.19 to 6.594/211.43.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Karen Stoffer defeated Angelle Sampey, (6.984/193.10 to 6.929/194.30). 
Pro Mod: Mike Janis defeated Troy Coughlin (5.902/247.34 to 7.120/137.43).

Next Race
The next event is the Route 66 NHRA Nationals, July 10-12 in Joliet, Illinois. Visit Drag Race Central more news and in-depth results from the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.