Blazing hot sunshine and a blistering racetrack greeted Greg Anderson and his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro on Saturday at Virginia Motorsports Park, but the seasoned racer and his KB Titan Racing team managed the conditions effectively to land Anderson’s first Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge victory and set the tone for Sunday at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals.
“This is cool. It’s fantastic to be able to race on Saturdays – that’s exciting to us,” said Anderson. “I’ve been watching Dallas Glenn win these Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge races – I don’t know how many of them he’s won; 25? It’s fun to watch, but it’s like, ‘I need to figure out how to do this.’ I finally figured it out today.”
The first session of qualifying was a throw-away 8.755-second pass at 104.63 mph on an increasingly hot racing surface. The first run of the day proved to be the one in which most driver’s best times were recorded, but Anderson was undeterred and quickly put his troubles behind him, rebounding with a 6.627 followed by a 6.626 to secure his spot in the top half of the field. He will race Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the first round.
The second and third sessions of qualifying also counted as the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, a specialty race that pits the previous events semifinalists against one another for bragging rights and bonus points that will come into play when the Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin.
Last race – Bristol – Anderson and KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn squared off in the semifinals. Here in their Virginia rematch, Anderson was a bit quicker off the starting line and reeled in the round win, 6.627, 208.84 to a tire-rattling 8.540. That set up a second-round meeting with reigning champion Erica Enders.
Enders was left behind as Anderson launched from the starting line with an incredible .004-second reaction time and paired it with the 6.626, 206.80 to defeat her .026 and 6.627, 208.26.
“Today was a great day, and I guess you have to bide your time and keep going to the semifinals on raceday so you can get another shot at it,” said Anderson. “That’s the goal tomorrow – to at least go to the semifinals so I can try this again in Norwalk.”
The Mission #2Fast2Tasty win banked three valuable points for Anderson, and they will be brought back to life after the points are reset for the playoffs.
Eliminations at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday.
This story was originally published on June 23, 2024. 
