The KB Titan Racing (KBT) team worked together to hold off the surging competition and sweep the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis this weekend. Greg Anderson won the event in the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet in an all-KB Titan final over Matt Hartford, and KBT teammate Eric Latino scored his first No. 1 qualifying start.
In winning the event, Anderson took a big chunk out of points leader and KB Titan counterpart Dallas Glenn’s advantage, chomping a 79-point lead down to just 25 marks.
“Timing is everything, and it just all comes down to what you do and when you do it in drag racing,” said now 112-time Pro Stock winner Anderson, the reigning and six-time world champion. “There were a lot of big rounds today. I struggled in qualifying and didn’t have the most confidence coming into Sunday, but what a recovery my guys made with my racecar. It was not a happy racecar in qualifying, and that’s not normal for us – but they figured it out, and I made four very high-quality runs.
“It’s been a great year so far for our team, and we got the Wally in the first three races of the Countdown. I’m proud of that, and I’m proud of this team – but it’s not over yet.”
What counted in qualifying
At the third of six NHRA Countdown to the Championship events, every point was critical, and KB Titan Racing ensured that their challengers gained as few as possible every day of the race. Latino did his job in the GESi Chevrolet during qualifying, racing to a best time of 6.515, 209.75 and accumulating six total bonus points with one of the fastest cars across four sessions.
J&A Service Camaro campaigner Cory Reed wielded dominant KB Titan Racing horsepower to take top marks with seven total bonus points scored. Anderson claimed three, while Rookie of the Year hopefuls Matt Latino (2) and Cody Coughlin (1) scooped up the rest, leaving zero bonus marks for anyone outside of the KBT camp.
GESi No. 1 Qualifier Award winner Latino took the top spot, with Glenn No. 2, Reed No. 3, and KB Titan-powered Matt Hartford No. 4. Elite Motorsports racers Erica Enders and Aaron Stanfield broke up the KBT top-half qualifying party with the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, and Anderson and Coughlin rounded out the quick eight.
Matt Latino, Eric’s son and the newest KB Titan Racing driver, moved off the bump spot and away from a potential first-round meeting with dear ol’ dad on the second day of qualifying, powering his FASS Diesel Fuel Systems entry to a 6.559 to move up to the No. 11 position.
The ladder heading into raceday showed two KB Titan racers on one side – Eric Latino and Hartford – with Glenn, Anderson, Reed, and Matt Latino on the other.
A spectacular Sunday
The odds were not in their favor for an all-KBT final, but the historic team accomplished the goal and advanced two cars to the final for the 11th time in the 15 Pro Stock events so far contested in 2025. In doing so, a 208th win for the team became inevitable.
Rising Pro Stock competitor Matt Latino became an important player in the Countdown to the Championship game as he took down incoming No. 3 man Stanfield on a holeshot in the first round. Latino left first, clocking a crisp and valuable .006-second reaction time and driving to a 6.560, 206.95 to defeat his opponent’s respectable though ineffective .029 and 6.547, 210.08. In the next pair, Matt Hartford and crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia effectively utilized KBT power to get it done over Cristian Cuadra, 6.545, 210.05 to 6.585, 207.21.
On the other side of the ladder, Anderson began his journey to an astounding 191st career final with a decisive win over a tire rattling Mason McGaha. Anderson’s 6.527 in the charging HendrickCars.com Pro Stocker was low elapsed time of the round and would hold as the quickest pass of the entire day.
KB Titan was making important strides, and factory hot rod fans were tuned in for the marquee matchup as points leader Glenn drew one of the most decorated drivers and historically best leavers in the sport, Jeg Coughlin Jr. Early in his own professional career behind the wheel of the RAD Torque Systems Chevy, Glenn earned the nickname “Double-Oh” Dallas for his consistently quick moves at the starting line, making the veteran vs. next gen match quite compelling. Glenn rose to the challenge and threw down a .010 at the hit, with Coughlin clocking a .037, and a good race transpired. At the finish-line stripe it was Glenn for the win, 6.538, 209.52 to 6.549, 210.37.
Another monster match-up awaited Glenn in the quarterfinals, where boss Anderson was waiting. Neck-and-neck for the championship for the second consecutive season, Anderson and Glenn have squared off seven times in the final round this year, with Anderson winning four of those races. Their second-round meeting in St. Louis was far earlier than normal and came with consequences.
Neither driver was willing to leave anything on the table, and Glenn left the starting line with a clean .020 reaction and Anderson behind by only four-thousandths-of-a-second. Anderson was ahead by the 60-foot timer, reaching that first critical increment in .986-second to his worthy opponent’s .992. At 330 feet, Anderson was 2.741 to Glenn’s 2.752; at 660 he was 4.205 to 4.221 with identical 167 mph speeds. At the 1,000-foot timer, Anderson’s 5.474 was beating a 5.493 before a winning 6.548, 208.71 topped a 6.568, 208.42 at the close of the quarter-mile. The win light came in Anderson’s favor by just .0168-second.
Meanwhile, Matt Latino’s victory over Pro Stock newbie Chris Vang in the second round allowed him to advance to the semifinals for the first time in his career. Unfortunately for the young driver, his opponent was the most winning driver in the history of the class, and Anderson got the win light, 6.551 to 6.601.
On the other side of the ladder, Hartford was taking care of business for the team as well in his Rottler/Total Seal Chevrolet, getting up on the wheel to deal out a near-perfect .003-second reaction time ahead of his 6.557, 209.43 (the winning top speed of the round). Hartford’s one-two punch all but dashed the championship hopes for opponent Enders, who was .025 at the start and 6.570, 209.92 at the stripe.
His work was not done, however, and in order to reach the 20th final round of his career, Hartford had to get past Troy Coughlin Jr., who had been double-oh on the tree all day. Coughlin cut another good light, a .003, but abruptly rattled the tires. Hartford cruised ahead to a 6.562, 209.85 while Coughlin slowed to a 14.396.
Coming into the last round of the day, Hartford held a 2-1 advantage over Anderson in previous finals – an interesting statistic next to the fact that Anderson was 20-5 against Hartford in overall elimination rounds.
Anderson proved that age is not an issue with another great reaction time, .021 to Hartford’s .038, and he kept the lead at each increment along the way to his sixth victory of the season and an invaluable triumph at a critical juncture in the playoffs. Anderson won it with a 6.531, 209.33 to 6.543, 209.49.
“This day was crazy,” said Anderson. “I’m whipped, but we got ‘er done today for Rick Hendrick and HendrickCars.com, Summit Racing, for all the great folks who support us. We held off the other team, and the points are looking fairly good right now – but not good enough. Once we get through Dallas and the Stampede of Speed over there in two weeks, we will hopefully have extended that gap and feel good going to Las Vegas and Pomona. It’s been a great year so far, but you can mess it up at any time and give up that lead. We don’t want to do that, and we’re going to continue working hard not to. I’m just so proud and honored to be part of this KB Titan team. I have every faith in our ability to win this championship.”
The points rundown
Glenn remains the points leader heading into race four of six in the championship playoffs, with Anderson No. 2 – just 25 points back. Hartford made a good move up with his final-round finish, going around Aaron Stanfield to No. 3 in the Pro Stock points (160 marks out of first). Stanfield is 200 points out of the lead, while Reed is 214 back, Enders is 218 away, and Eric Latino is seventh and 230 points behind. Cody Coughlin is 236 marks away from first.
The next event in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series 2025 NHRA Countdown to the Championship is the Texas NHRA Fallnationals in Dallas, Oct. 8-12, with the Nevada Nationals in Las Vegas and the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals in Pomona to follow. Each point at the season closer will be valued at points-and-a-half.
This story was originally published on September 29, 2025. 
