Anderson Wins Midwest Nationals in All-Summit Racing Final

Greg Anderson was the Number 1 qualifier of the weekend and winner of an all Summit Racing final against teammate Jason Line at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.

With this win, Anderson gained the points lead at the third of six races in the 2017 NHRA Countdown to the Championship. Just behind him in the number two spot is KB Racing teammate Bo Butner, while Jason Line moved into third place with his first final-round appearance since winning the season-opening Winternationals.

“You couldn’t have drawn it better,” said Anderson, who was racing in the 148th final round of his career and 10th of the season. “It was a dream weekend and we gained a lot of points against some tough competition. The two Summit Racing Chevys in the final round. Wow. It just does not get any better than that.”   

Anderson knocked out David River, Larry Morgan, and Pro Stock driving rookie Brian Self to pave the way to the 36th final round face-off with Line. Anderson took the win on a holeshot with a 6.571 second/210.73 MPH pass defeating Line’s quicker 6.545/211.26.

“It’s hard to win out here, but my car was great all weekend,” said Anderson, who earned his second Gateway Motorsports Park trophy in his fifth final at the St. Louis-area facility. “It’s going to take finishes like that the rest of the way out to have a chance to win this thing.”

Jason Line was racing in his third final at the Midwest Nationals. St. Louis is one of just four racetracks where a win has eluded the reigning and three-time Pro Stock world champ. Line has been picking up steam over the last few events, and he was Number Two qualifier with top speed of the meet (213.30 MPH) heading into Sunday.

He continued the quick pace with top speed of race day and low elapsed time of Round One with his victory over Alan Prusiensky, who tripped the red light. Line set Low ET of Round Two with his 6.556/210.90 pass to defeat Deric Kramer’s 6.616/209.17.

In the semifinals, Line cut a .005-second reaction time against Bo Butner and took the win with a 6.578/210.70 to Butner’s 6.560/210.

“I faltered today in the final,” said Line. “I feel like I’ve done well through the Countdown, but today I just lost focus. Most folks can’t fathom how hard it is to maintain that [focus].

It was a good day for me in points. With the last three races, we made big improvements. But it’s not over until it’s over.”   

Tim Wilkerson and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang team had their hands full this weekend. Wilk wanted to do his best in front of hometown friends, family, and sponsor Dick Levi, but qualifying brought about a tough set of circumstances, and race day did not go as planned.

During qualifying, Wilkerson suffered a mechanical failure that resulted in a fiery boom and a lot of work to repair the engine and carbon fiber body. But the LRS crew tackled the task and came back for race day.

Wilkerson faced Jonnie Lindberg in Round One of eliminations. But as he left the line, the tires of the LRS Ford Shelby Mustang shook. Lindberg took the win with a 3.942/326.48 to Wilkerson’s 6.894/143.63.

“It’s devastating,” said Wilkerson. “But this weekend was great in a lot of ways off the track, at our home race. This is one of our favorite races because it’s so close to home and having the folks from Levi, Ray & Shoup and so many friends with us is what made this a memorable weekend.”

Final Round Results
Top Fuel—Steve Torrence (3.684/329.34) defeated Doug Kalitta (3.698/331.28)

Funny Car—Ron Capps (3.879/331.53) defeated Jonnie Lindberg (3.904/326.87)

Pro Stock—Greg Anderson (6.571/210.73) defeated Jason Line (6.545/211.26)

Pro Stock Motorcycle—LE Tonglet (6.792/197.91) defeated Andrew Hines (6.790/197.94)

What’s Next
The next race in the 2017 NHRA Countdown to the Championship is the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals October 12-15 at Texas Motorplex in Dallas, Texas.

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