After four rounds of qualifying at the 40th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals, Greg Anderson and the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro are dialed in for a productive Sunday and the opportunity to defend the event title earned here last season. Reigning and six-time world champion Anderson has three total wins at Firebird Motorsports Park so far, and after a runner-up at the season-opener in Gainesville two weeks ago, he’d sure like to add another trophy to the pile.
“We made very high-quality runs with my HendrickCars.com racecar here this weekend in qualifying, we just never quite hit it on the bullseye; but I’m not whining about that,” said Anderson, who had the best-performing car in two of four qualifying sessions. “The car is good, it’s just very, very close to running really, really fast. Even just making a little bit of subpar runs, it’s still fast. I feel really good about that.”
Gainesville was a rainy race to start the year, but in stark contrast, the desert sun blazed on the racing surface in Phoenix throughout qualifying. Anderson’s KB Titan Racing team had little trouble navigating the tricky track and brought a bunch of horsepower to the table. Effectively applying big HP, the team sent Anderson to a clean 6.550-second pass at 209.59 mph in the opening session to rocket to the top. The later session on Friday netted a 6.512, 208.91, and although it was good for a pair of bonus marks, it was just a touch behind teammate and No. 1 qualifier Matt Hartford. Anderson was bumped down to No. 2, and there he stayed.
On Saturday, he dealt out another 6.550, 209.10 that was the quickest in the early session, and he followed up with a 6.570, 208.39 to claim another pair of bonus points and close out qualifying. In the first round of eliminations at the Arizona Nationals, Anderson will race Fernando Cuadra Jr., a driver he has met 11 times in prior elimination rounds and over whom he holds a 10-1 advantage.
Anderson, the most winning driver in the history of Pro Stock, is in the hunt for his 107th national event win. The only Mission Foods Drag Racing Series driver to have more wins than Anderson is Funny Car legend John Force, who won an astounding 157 NHRA trophies. Sportsman racer Dan Fletcher has 107 wins, and another tick in the win column for Anderson would tie him for second overall across all of NHRA drag racing.
But nothing comes easy in Pro Stock. The competition is rich starting right there in the first round, and the weather and track conditions are likely to enhance the challenge. Thus far, the KB Titan Racing team has been able to masterfully manage a very warm surface, and no matter what Sunday brings, Anderson asserts that he has the car to beat.
“Tomorrow is going to be a little bit warmer, so we’re going to have to make a couple of changes, but I feel very confident that I have a racecar that can go the distance,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. When you come to a race and you run well every session no matter what the track conditions are, that tells you that you have a chance to win. That’s all you can ask. I definitely feel like I have a chance tomorrow. We’ll see if we can make some Phoenix magic.”
Eliminations for the 40th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals are set to begin at 11 a.m. MST on Sunday at Firebird Motorsports Park.
This story was originally published on March 23, 2025. 
