Throughout his career, Greg Anderson has been acknowledged as one of the toughest competitors on the NHRA’s Full Throttle Drag Racing circuit, a relentless racer driven to be the very best. However, as the 2011 campaign winds down to its final three races, the defending Pro Stock champion finds himself readjusting his goals thanks to a dominating performance in the Countdown by his Summit Racing teammate Jason Line, who enters this weekend’s Arizona Nationals in Phoenix with a commanding 181-point lead.
With this year’s title possibly out of his grasp, Anderson has therefore shifted his attention to making the most of the remaining opportunities, including securing a top finish in the points, adding to his impressive win total, as well as supporting his stable mate’s championship drive.
“Mathematically I may still be alive for the championship, but in all likelihood, Jason will be this year’s champion, and I’m fine with that,” said Anderson. “After all, at the start of the year, our ultimate goal is to have the two Summit Racing cars finish 1-2, which is not an easy task, and right now we are in a position to do just that. Of course, as a competitor, you want to be the one that is on top, but with only three races left and as well as he’s running, I have to be realistic.
“It took a little time to accept it, but now it’s time for me to get back in the ring and defend my position, because it would be the very best thing for this race team. If we can finish the year 1-2, we’ll have one very happy individual in Ken Black, and everyone on this team will be motivated to dig back in and work hard during the winter so we can come back and do it again next year.
“Besides, there are still plenty of carrots out there for us to pick. As I say every year, championships are the ultimate goal, but the most important thing to me is winning races. So, if we can somehow win these last three races and add to the eleven Jason and I have already won, it would be a fantastic year, so we have more than enough motivation heading into Phoenix.”
Although this weekend’s event will mark Anderson’s 12th visit to the Arizona desert, the conditions he and his team will face at Firebird Raceway are likely to be completely different from those encountered previously, as the track has been completely resurfaced from one year ago. In addition, this year’s fall date will produce significantly warmer temperatures than the traditional spring scheduling, with the mercury expected to top 100 degrees, requiring a completely different set-up for the naturally-aspirated “factory hot rods”.
“With all the changes from the last time we were there, Firebird Raceway should be a completely different animal this time around,” said Anderson. “Fortunately, over the last several races we’ve been bouncing between 50 and 100 degrees, and our Summit Pontiacs have been consistently fast, so there’s no reason to expect that we won’t have strong race cars again this weekend.
“Besides, we’re coming off a respectable showing in Reading, where we ran better and went rounds on Sunday, which gave us a nice boost in confidence and showed us we can still get it done. The way we see it, this is just another race to look forward to, because as long as we execute, we think we have a great chance of contending for the win. It’s just a tremendous feeling heading into the weekend, and I can’t wait to get to the track.”
Greg Anderson & the Summit Racing Pontiac crew
By the Numbers – Firebird Raceway edition:
1 – Win by Anderson at Firebird Raceway in two final round appearances coming into this weekend, which came in 2003.
2 – No. 1 qualifiers by Greg in his previous 10 Firebird starts, most recently in 2006.
4.6 – Average starting position for Greg in his previous starts in Arizona.
14 – Elimination round wins by Greg in his previous 10 starts in Phoenix, versus 9 losses for a 60.9 win percentage.
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