After the first day of qualifying at the NHRA Midwest Nationals was washed completely away, Greg Anderson and his KB Titan Racing-powered HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro came forward prepared to make the best of the two qualifying sessions up for grabs. On Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway, Anderson scored a pair of bonus points and earned a start from the No. 3 position at the third race of six in the 2024 Countdown to the Championship.
“We knew we had to come out today and make safe but quick runs, and we put our heads together and came out with a stable of good cars,” said Anderson. “We would really have liked to have had those two qualifying sessions yesterday, but we were all in the same boat – everyone had the same circumstances to deal with, and I think we did pretty darn good. What’s going to matter the most is tomorrow, so we’re going to work hard tonight, put everything away ready to go for tomorrow, and be ready to win.”
In the first round of qualifying, Anderson sailed down the racetrack to a 6.578-second pass at 207.91 mph, and the run was second-best of the session, which meant two bonus points. In the later and final session, the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet trucked down the quarter-mile toa 6.590, 208.36 that was fourth-best of the round.
Starting from the No. 3 position, Anderson is set to square off with KB Titan Racing teammate Cory Reed in his J&A Service Chevy. Of course, Anderson’s goal for the weekend is to win the race at the event that marks the halfway point of the playoffs.
“There are just four Sundays left to get those win lights, and we want all of them,” said Anderson, a five-time world champion and a 105-time winner on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour. “We’re fourth in the championship points right now, and the only way to get to the top is to win races.”
Three-time St. Louis winner Anderson, who is 76 points back from the lead heading into Sunday at the Midwest Nationals, is chasing points leader and teammate Dallas Glenn as well as third-generation racer Aaron Stanfield, whose father raced Pro Stock against Anderson for many years.
“On Monday night after Pomona last year, I stood on the stage with a little bit of amazement that we somehow held off all the young guns again,” said Anderson, who finished No. 2 in the Pro Stock points with Stanfield behind him in fourth and Glenn sixth.
“It gets harder to do every year, without a doubt, and it’s going to be so hard to do that again. The good news is that the sport is in great hands, and we don’t have to have the grizzled veterans win every year – but the grizzled veterans are going to do all that they can. We’re going to have to find a way to up our game and find a way to hold off the young guns again. I keep trying to do that, find the fountain of youth, because I have to. Don’t count me out yet.”
Eliminations at the NHRA Midwest Nationals are set to begin at 11:00 a.m. CT on Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis.
This story was originally published on September 29, 2024. 
