Greg Anderson and his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro laid down a set of smooth and efficient passes to launch into the brand-new Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season at this weekend’s 55th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, and all signs point to a great outcome on Sunday.
Anderson, the most winning driver in the history of NHRA Pro Stock, has won the Gainesville Raceway trophy more than any other currently competing driver in the category, but five isn’t enough. He wants another.
“We had a lot to contend with throughout qualifying,” said Anderson, who clocked a best time of 6.561-second at 208.65 mph to lock into the No. 4 position. “The rain today certainly did not help matters, but we got to make three trips down this historic racetrack and gather as much data as we possibly could, and now it’s just about turning that information into gold on raceday.”
Now in their second season together, the KB Titan Racing team – known individually as KB Racing and Titan Racing before the pre-season merge in 2023 – will be heading into eliminations in the hunt for the first trophy of the year. Anderson won this race in 2004 over Jeg Coughlin Jr., 2007 (Larry Morgan), 2015 and 2016 (Jason Line), and 2021 (Troy Coughlin Jr.). He was also runner-up in 2011, 2012, and 2017.
“I love this race and this racetrack,” said Anderson, who will race second-year competitor Jerry Tucker in the first round of eliminations. “We’ve done well here before, and we’ll have the opportunity to do well again tomorrow with my HendrickCars.com Chevy and the other KB Titan cars in the stable. We had some kinks to work out early in the weekend, a little bit of a stumble, but we recovered from it, and we’re in a position to help ourselves start the season on a high note.
“The KB Titan Racing team spent a lot of time in the race shop this winter, a lot of very long days that stretched into nights and weekends to prepare for this year. Tomorrow, we get to see if it pays off.”
Eliminations for the NHRA Gatornationals are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 10.
This story was originally published on March 10, 2024. 
