Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing came into the second day of qualifying for the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Denver, Colo. looking to get a better handle on the tune-up necessary to run in the mile-high altitude. They made progress towards that goal in the early afternoon session, logging a competitive 7.014-second time with a top speed of 195.90 mph, a run that would eventually earn them the eighth starting position for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Encouraged by the results, the KB Racing crew made further adjustments for their fourth and final attempt, looking to improve their standing and gain valuable tuning information for race day. Unfortunately, just as the two-time Denver winner crossed the finish line, his engine suffered a major mechanical malfunction, preventing him from improving on his time, and, more importantly, requiring the team to replace the motor prior to tomorrow’s first round encounter with Rodger Brogdon.
“I guess we have yet to figure out the mountain this weekend,” said Anderson. “After missing the set-up in both runs yesterday, we came back and improved in the first session today. We went a little farther in that direction for our last attempt and ended up losing the motor. It gave no indication – it was right before the finish line and just as I was about to pull the chutes, it just let go.
“Losing that motor hurts the heart and the wallet. We take a lot of pride in our engine program, and it’s very disappointing and expensive to have that type of failure. We have other motors that are equally as good, so we’ll take it out and drop in another, but that’s not the issue. We have one last chance to figure out what these Summit Racing Pontiacs need to run here, so we’re going to look at the data from all three cars, as well as our notes from previous years, and come up with a game plan. We’ve definitely made some headway, and will do the best we can tomorrow, trying to end this weekend on a high note.”
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