Defending Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson entered the final day of qualifying for the Summit Racing Equipment Southern NHRA Nationals in Atlanta, GA with the main objective of getting a better handle on his race car. Although he had essentially secured his participation in Sunday’s final eliminations with his 6.632-second time on Friday, he felt there was still room for improvement. Therefore, he looked to use his final two attempts to put himself in a better position to score his third win at his sponsor’s race.
After matching his Friday effort on his first attempt, Anderson made his best run of the weekend in the fourth and final session, with his 6.626-second, 207.30 mph pass, which was fourth-quickest for the round, earning him the fifth starting position and a first round match-up with his former employer, Warren Johnson.
“We definitely made up ground today and have our Summit Racing Pontiac headed in the right direction,” said Anderson. “But even though we are directionally correct, which is good, we just haven’t gone far enough. We have Jason’s (teammate Line, who qualified second) car that we’re really happy with and two (including Ronnie Humphrey, who qualified 11th after missing Friday to attend his daughter’s college graduation) that definitely need some changes.
“Still, we have three Summit Racing Pontiacs qualified for the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals, giving us three shots at winning tomorrow if we can figure out what these cars need to run well. Today we learned that we’re headed in the right direction, now we just have to go farther, so we’ll have three really good hot rods on Sunday. It will be far from easy, but I have to say I like our chances.
“It will be fun to hook up with WJ in the first round. We’ve shared a lot of laps on this race track and won a lot of races together, but tomorrow, it’s every man for himself. It’s been a great weekend so far starting with the Coca-Cola banquet on Thursday and having the entire gang from Summit with us at the track offering encouragement. Now we just have to finish it off and make it a fantastic weekend.”
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