Anderson scores impressive 104th national event victory in Phoenix
HendrickCars.com NHRA Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson added to his Hall of Fame career with an impressive 104th national event victory during this weekend’s NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park.
In the final, Anderson lined up against KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn, who had won the rain-delayed Winternationals from the day before. The HendirckCars.com Camaro left the starting line first, .022 to .032, and the Pro Stock 'Duel in the Desert' ended with Anderson's win light flashing with 6.582-second elapsed time at 208.97 mph, to a 6.618, 208.91 combination for Glenn. The victory was the first of the 2024 season, and his third in Phoenix.
Anderson won his semifinals match over longtime rival Jeg Coughlin Jr., launching ahead of his opponent by .006-second at the starting line and keeping the advantage for a 6.612, 208.78 victory over a tire-rattling 10.928.
The win had come on the heels of Hendrick Motorsports 1-2-3 finish at Martinsville Speedway earlier in the day, something that wasn’t lost on the Mooresville, North Carolina resident.
"Before we came up for the semifinals, we watched the end of that race," Anderson said. "I was so proud of everybody on that team; it was a great motivator. I told myself, I've got to find a way to dig deep and get the job done. I didn't want to be the weak link in the chain.
"This win feels as good as the first one," Anderson added.
Anderson is well ahead of the next closest driver in all-time Pro Stock national event victories. He's also second on the all-time victory list for a professional driver in all of NHRA, behind only Funny Car racer John Force (156). The veteran used his extensive skill and experience to navigate unforgiving track this weekend.
"To have had the day I had, to have had the weekend I had – I didn't embarrass myself. I did a good job behind the wheel, and I'm really thrilled with that," Anderson continued. "That's what it takes to win in this class; you have to have the total package, the best car, the best crew, and you have to drive well. We were able to put all of that together on a very, very tricky racetrack, and everybody, top to bottom on this team, was on their toes. We didn't necessarily outrun or outpower them, but we flat outraced everybody."
Anderson had a superior reaction time against his opponents in each of the four elimination rounds, and with a powerful racecar that kept an edge; he had lane choice on a weekend when it mattered most. After locking down a victory over racing partner Eric Latino in round one, Anderson sailed smoothly past tire-rattling Troy Coughlin Jr. in round two before his semifinals defeat of Coughlin's uncle Jeg in the semis.
"All weekend, it's been tricky down-track," explained Anderson. "Then the sun came out, and it's only 70-75 degrees out there, but the racetrack got up to 135 degrees. We'd never seen that; we were all shocked. We had to make big swings round-to-round out there and just flat-guess off of previous knowledge, but we figured out how to do it before the other group did. We had a great day, and it was just a total team effort.
"I'm proud to represent the HendrickCars.com colors on my car. Mr. Hendrick is a great, great man, and he's done a ton for me – it just feels fantastic to get this done for him and be part of such a special weekend for the Hendrick group. This is all a dream come true."
The next race on the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour will be the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas, April 12-14, 2024.
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