With his parents Joan and Rod in attendance to cheer him on, Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson made a good first impression Aug. 16, at Brainerd International Raceway on the first day of qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
The Duluth, Minnesota-raised driver who was No. 1 qualifier at the event in 2004, 2006 and 2008, ultimately earned the provisional No. 5 position and will have two more chances on Saturday to improve.
Greg Anderson
In the first session of qualifying Anderson clocked a swift 6.600 at 209.01 mph to launch right up into the No. 2 spot. His strong pass was just .007-second behind the quickest run of the early round.
The second session found Anderson on the left side of the racetrack in a lane that gave most drivers trouble, but the seasoned driver with four Pro Stock championships on his scorecard still managed to race to a 6.609 at 209.17.
“The first run was real nice, but we were a little bit conservative the second run,” said Anderson. “The racetrack got a little bit better, and we got a little bit soft on the clutch. We just missed it a little bit, but the car is very happy, and I’m looking forward to the rest of this weekend.
“We’re supposed to have similar conditions all weekend long, and I think we can run real close to the top. We’re closer than we’ve been all year, so we’re going to keep digging and keep trying to pull forward.
“We got off to a good start today, and we were happy to see the gains that we thought we made testing earlier this week actually prove to be true. We have definitely made forward strides, and that is exactly what the Summit Racing team needs to be doing right now.”
(DI.com file photos by Ian Tocher)
This story was originally published on August 17, 2013. 
