Anderson Wins All-Summit Racing Final in Denver, Takes Points Lead

Greg Anderson scored a big win for Summit Racing at the NHRA Mile-High Nationals in Denver. It was an all-Summit Racing final with Anderson facing teammate Jason Line for the 37th time.

“I’d like to think that this is the start to a great rest of the season,” said Anderson, who claimed his 91st Pro Stock victory. “Our cars have been running great all season, we just haven’t been able to close the deal on Sunday. We’ve garnered a lot of green Number One qualifier hats, but we haven’t been able to get ahold of one of the yellow winner’s circle hats until now.”

In Round One of eliminations, Anderson took the win when opponent Joey Grose fouled at the start. In Round Two, he defeated Vincent Nobile with a 6.985 second/197.02 MPH pass to Nobile’s, 6.986/196.24. He went on to beat Jeg Coughlin in Round Three, 6.945/196.27 to 6.995/195.79, placing him in the final against Line.

Jason Line had top speed in each of the first three rounds of eliminations. In Round One, Line won with a 6.969/197.02 pass to Matt Hartford’s, 7.017/195.85.

In Round Two, Line defeated Alex Laughlin, 6.983/197.16 to 6.994/195.90. Round Three of eliminations saw Line take the win with a 6.958/196.87 to Chris McGaha’s, 6.95/195.79.

In the final round, Anderson took the win over Line in a very close match-up—6.943/196.53 to Line’s 6.947/196.19

“Today was a good day. I would have liked to have won, but it was a great day for our KB Racing team and Summit Racing,” said Line, who is ninth in the Pro Stock standings. “It feels good to leave the track saying we did a good job.”

“The class is so tough, it’s so hard to win,” added Anderson. “Our crew chief, Rob Downing, did a heck of a job with our race cars, and my hat is off to him. I can’t thank him enough.”

Tim Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car, made it to the quarterfinals. In Round One of eliminations, Wilkerson and Shawn Langdon left the starting line with almost identical reaction times, but Langdon smoked the tires and Wilk pulled away with a 4.057/315.64 pass—the best of the round.

In Round Two, Wilkerson faced Courtney Force. Although Wilkerson had the better RT, his car dropped a cylinder, giving Force the win with a 4.121/306.88 pass over Wilk’s 4.268, 272.12.

“I have a great group of guys who work real hard, and they’re focused on getting better every run,” said Wilkerson. “We had a good car. But in the second round, it dropped a hole [cylinder] right at the step. But, that’s just part of racing. I’m looking forward to Sonoma next week.”

Wilkerson is currently 11th in the Funny Car points standings—just two points behind for the 10th position.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel—Leah Pritchett (3.831/316.45) defeated Doug Kalitta (3.852/319.82)

Funny Car—John Force (4.075/315.42) defeated Ron Capps (4.067/308.71)

Pro Stock—Greg Anderson (6.943/196.53) defeated Jason Line (6.947/196.19)

Pro Stock Motorcycle—Hector Arana Jr. (7.170/185.89) defeated Jerry Savoie (Foul, Red Light)

Pro Stock Low ET—Deric Kramer 6.929  seconds
Pro Stock Top Speed—Jason Line 198.12 MPH

What’s next

As the Western Swing continues, the next event on the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Race is the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, July 27-29.

For more information and complete race results visit DragRaceCentral.com.