Pro Stock veteran Greg Anderson bolstered his position as third on the all-time NHRA No. 1 qualifier list as he secured the 125th pole of his career at this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. Anderson, driver of the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro out of the esteemed KB Titan Racing stable, clocked a best time of 6.500-second at 210.90 mph to land the milestone marker, and he did so in the hometown of Rick Hendrick and HendrickCars.com.
Qualifying was a wild ride for Anderson, but the strong initial blast by the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet held through a litany of unpleasant surprises.
After a faltering ECU (ignition box) lost spark and wouldn’t fire in Friday night’s later qualifying session, a safety wire hooked to the air bottle was disconnected as the crew hustled to determine where the loss of power was coming from. The wire – part of a safety system that verifies there is enough air pressure in the bottle that launches the parachutes (if the pressure gets too low, it will shut the whole system off) – was disconnected temporarily to ensure it wasn’t related to the car not starting. Reconnecting it was a forgotten step after the ECU problem was diagnosed.
NHRA ruled the disconnected wire a safety violation, and Anderson’s very strong 6.512, 210.41 in the third qualifying session was thrown out. His Chevy got loose in the final session and was unable to make a full pull, but with two capable runs to draw from, the HendrickCars.com crew heads into race day fully prepared to go rounds and bring home a fifth Charlotte trophy.
“It was certainly a bummer to lose that run in Q3, but the car ran great, and the driver did his job. It was just an absolutely crazy day, but we’re going to forget about all that; it’s over now. We’ve got the yellow hat [as No. 1 qualifier], the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet was strong, and we’ll make damn sure all the wires are connected before we come up first round,” said Anderson, who will race KB Titan teammates Sienna Wildgust (No. 16) and Dallas Glenn (No. 9), as well as David Cuadra (No. 8), in his first-round quad.
“We had some real challenges today, but it’s still a positive weekend so far, and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” continued Anderson, whose 125 No. 1 qualifier awards are behind only Funny Car legend John Force (167) and former boss Warren Johnson (138). “I’ve got a chance at my home track in front of my home town sponsor, Mr. Hendrick and the whole group. I want to make them proud, and I’m going to give it all I’ve got tomorrow. May the good Lord shine on us a little bit brighter than he did today.”
Eliminations at the 14th annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte are scheduled to begin at noon ET on Sunday, April 28.
This story was originally published on April 28, 2024. 
