All Greg Anderson wanted coming into the final race of the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series was a chance. After a final-round finish in Las Vegas two weeks ago, he had that – and on the first day of qualifying at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip-hosted NHRA Finals, a chance at claiming the sixth Pro Stock world title of his career increased. With two strong runs on a picture-perfect day in Southern California, Anderson was quick and fast to grab the provisional pole with his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
“The points deal is not exactly playing in my favor right now,” said Anderson, who arrived in Pomona, where accolades count for points and a half, 114 points behind the leader. “But it’s like the old line from the movie Dumb and Dumber: ‘So you’re saying there’s a chance.’ Until they tell me there’s not a chance, I’m not leaving. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”
In the first qualifying session, the most winning driver in Pro Stock (103 victories) raced to a 6.501-second pass at 210.50 mph to move into the No. 3 position and pick up a pair of valuable bonus points. In the later session, Anderson used KB Titan Racing horsepower to blister the racetrack with a 6.495, 211.69 and rocket to the top spot. Four more points were awarded for the effort, for a total of six bonus marks. Points leader Erica Enders claimed a total of four, allowing Anderson to keep his championship hopes alive.
“Coming into this race, I needed to find a way to have a great run in qualifying, score bonus points, and not lose bonus points to Erica,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 goal, qualify ahead of her and not lose bonus points. Day one is in the books, so that’s mission accomplished. We did great today, we did all we could do, and I’ve got all the confidence in the world in this team. We’ll do all we possibly can, the rest of it is up to the racing gods.”
Anderson is in the hunt for his third No. 1 of the season and 124th of his career. Weather conditions look similar throughout the weekend in Pomona, though possibly a bit warmer, and the 6.495 that Anderson recorded was the only run in the 6.4s – and not too far off the track record of 6.480, set in 2014. That gives the five-time champ a good feeling heading into Saturday, but he isn’t counting anything until it’s all said and done.
“You just never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “These races are not raced on paper. It’s not over until it’s over, and we’re going to keep swinging until they tell us it’s over. It’s been absolutely a great weekend so far, and it’s going to be a lot of fun the rest of the weekend with great racing conditions. You’re going to have a heck of a day on Sunday, and I can’t wait. I wish we could fast forward and start racing first round right now.”
Qualifying at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals will continue on Saturday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Raceway, with the final two qualifying sessions of the 2023 season scheduled to take place at noon and 3pm PST.
KB Titan Racing Friday Qualifying Results:
Greg Anderson, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro
Best qualifying time6.495, 211.69
Current qualifying position: No. 1
Bonus points: +6
Matt Hartford, Total Seal/GETTRX/CIP 1 Chevrolet Camaro
Best qualifying time: 6.511, 209.69
Current qualifying position: No. 6
Kyle Koretsky, Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro
Best qualifying time: 6.515, 210.11
Current qualifying position: No. 7
Camrie Caruso, Tequila Comisario/Fuel Juel NBCF Chevrolet Camaro
Best qualifying time: 6.518, 210.54
Current qualifying position: No. 8
Deric Kramer, GetBioFuel.com Chevrolet Camaro
Best qualifying time: 6.532, 209.82
Current qualifying position: No. 12
Dallas Glenn, RAD Torque Systems Chevrolet Camaro
Best qualifying time: 6.546, 209.98
Current qualifying position: No. 16
Eric Latino, GESi Emmissions Systems Chevrolet Camaro
Best qualifying time: 6.557, 208.17
Current qualifying position: No. 18
This story was originally published on November 11, 2023. 
