Another Final Round for Anderson as the NHRA Countdown Begins

Greg Anderson took another big step in the right direction during the Countdown to the Championship as he made the final round at the 10th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals in the first of six playoff races.

Anderson knocked out Alan Prusiensky, Drew Skillman, and KB Racing teammate Bo Butner en route to the 146th Pro Stock final of his career and eighth of the season.

The KB Racing match between Anderson and Butner was one of the closest of the day. Anderson defeated Butner on a holeshot, 6.616/209.98 to 6.597/209.56. The margin of victory was just .007 second.

In the final round at zMAX Dragway, and in the heat of the day, Anderson clocked a respectable 6.638 second pass at 207.82 MPH but it was not enough. Rookie Tanner Gray snared the win with a 6.614/208.07.

“That was a shellacking,” said Anderson, an 88-time victor on the circuit. “We’re going to stay here and test tomorrow, make some runs, and see if we can crack the case.”

Anderson, currently the number three seed, is now 35 points behind first place Gray.

After a very strong qualifying performance that netted seven bonus points for being one of the quickest Pro Stockers, Jason Line was optimistic heading into race day. Line beat Larry Morgan in Round One of eliminations and made the second-quickest pass of the Round Two to get past Kenny Delco. In the semifinals, Tanner Gray was out of the gate first by just .013 second and used the slim advantage to end Line’s day, 6.610/209.72 to Line’s 6.603/209.65.

“My Summit Racing Camaro is a good car—we just lost a good race,” said Line. “You’re going to have that sometimes, and as far as the championship goes, it isn’t over until it’s over. I have a car that could win, and that’s more important now than ever.”

 

Veteran Funny Car pilot Tim Wilkerson qualified in the top half of the field this weekend, picking up bonus points as one of the quickest cars. But Round One of eliminations turned into an early exit for the driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang.

Wilkerson faced off against Ron Capps. At half-track, both drivers had trouble with tire spin on the hot track surface, but Capps took the win with a 4.363/216.24 pass to Wilkerson’s 4.725/169.68.

Unfortunately for Wilkerson, the tail end of the LRS Funny Car’s carbon fiber body bumped the wall and was damaged. The tips of the headers on the right side of the engine were crushed, and the Funny Car body was scraped.

“It just got out there and started spinning the tires. I lifted up off the pedal and then stepped back on it again, and the car shot towards the wall,” Wilkerson said.

“The car is fine. We already patched the teeny, tiny crack, and we got a new Royal Purple sticker to replace the one that got knocked off,” said Wilkerson, who remains ninth in the Funny Car points standings. “We’ll go on to Reading, analyze that track, and see what we can do.”

Final Round Results
Top Fuel—Doug Kalitta (3.775/318.39) defeated Richie Crampton (3.876/306.40)

Funny Car—Robert Hight (3.943/328.86) defeated Courtney Force (3.980/315.19)

Pro Stock—Tanner Gray (6.614/208.07) defeated Greg Anderson (6.638/207.82)

Pro Stock Motorcycle—Eddie Krawiec (6.850/196.87) defeated Andrew Hines (6.911/195.11)

What’s Next
The next race in the in the 2017 NHRA Countdown to the Championship, is the NHRA Keystone Nationals, September 21-24 at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania.

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