The NHRA Countdown to the Championship began this past weekend in Reading, Pa., and the first race of the playoffs left Greg Anderson and his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro wanting more, a lot more. Anderson, a five-time world champion and the most winning driver in the history of Pro Stock with 101 national event victories, qualified well at Maple Grove Raceway but exited eliminations far earlier than he intended. That only means that the Mooresville, N.C., based driver is all the more eager to get home and make up ground at the upcoming NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
Anderson qualified his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet in the No. 4 position with a strong 6.510-second pass at 210.37 mph and claimed three bonus points as one of the quickest cars heading into Sunday. Unfortunately, KB Titan Racing teammate Matt Hartford had a rough go at qualifying and landed in the No. 13 position, which meant the two would go toe-to-toe in the first round of eliminations. It would be the 23rd time the two met on raceday and the 11th time they raced in the first round. Anderson entered the round with an 18-4 advantage over Hartford in previous elimination rounds.
Three-time Reading winner Anderson was a teensy bit quicker as the two left the starting line, .022 to .023, but Hartford was across the finish line first with a 6.535 to 6.555. After a runner-up in Topeka and a No. 1 qualifier award in Brainerd towards the end of the regular season, Anderson expected more.
“It’s tough,” said Anderson, who is now No. 8 in the Pro Stock points. “This is not the start to the Countdown that we wanted for the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, but we can’t dwell on what happened there, we need to focus on what we can control in the days ahead, and that’s bringing the very best car possible to Charlotte for this next race.
“This is Rick Hendrick’s home, it’s our home, and there is no better place to rebound than zMAX Dragway. We have a lot of runs down that racetrack, a lot of support with everyone from Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com, and all of our KB Titan friends and family. We have all the ingredients for a recipe of success, now it’s going to be about execution.”
Anderson has three previous wins in Charlotte, including one at the fall race in 2010, and KB Titan has earned 11 total wins there, including the first NHRA victory for a Swedish driver in 2014 when Jimmy Ålund was filling in for Anderson, who was recovering from heart surgery to correct a condition he was born with. Jason Line earned four under the former KB Racing banner (before KB Racing and Titan Racing Engines merged). Dallas Glenn and Kyle Koretsky both earned their career first Pro Stock wins at zMAX Dragway, and Deric Kramer was a winner at the fall race there in 2019.
“This team has a lot of experience at zMAX Dragway, a lot,” said Anderson. “It’s always great to get to sleep in your own bed and have everything you need right there down the road at the shop. I’m not sure if we’ve got a ‘home court advantage,’ exactly, but we have every reason to believe we can come away from this weekend with a win for KB Titan Racing and for the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. I have not had the season I wanted, it’s been a long road to get here, and it’s time to turn it around. We’ve seen a glimmer here and there, and now we’ve got to capitalize on that and make things happen before the year is in the books. I have confidence in our equipment and this team’s capabilities, and I’m excited to get out there and show what we can do.”
The next race on the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series tour is the 15th annual NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway, Sept. 22-24.
