Anderson Determined to Bounce Back in Sonoma

In the first nine races of the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season, Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing team were the picture of competitive excellence, winning four times in seven final round appearances, capped by their win in Englishtown, N.J. in the KB Racing team’s first race with the new Chevrolet Camaro.  Over the last four events, however, their pace has cooled somewhat, with only one final round coupled with a pair of uncharacteristically early exits. 

Therefore, as he and his crew head to the scenic Napa Valley for this weekend’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Anderson looks for he and his team to return to their winning form, which he believes will come from addressing any problem areas that have cropped up in recent weeks.

“We were racing really well just a few races ago, but seem to have fallen off our game a little recently,” said Anderson. “We need to get back on track, making better race day calls, with everyone concentrating on doing their jobs to the best of their abilities, racing smarter and getting as much as we can from every run.

“We also need to get some more performance from our Summit Racing Camaros.  Even though they have been extremely competitive right out of the box, we are still early in the process.  The bottom line is that we have a lot of work to do and a short time in which to get it done, so we’ll head to the friendly confines of Sonoma and see what we can do to rectify some of our issues.”

As Anderson alludes, one aspect seemingly working in the KB Racing team’s favor is the site of this weekend’s event. Located just north of San Francisco in the California wine country, the Sonoma quarter-mile has been one of the four-time champion’s best tracks, with four wins (including last year’s event) in seven final round appearances and an elimination round win record exceeding 80 per cent.  Although this certainly provides a welcome boost to their confidence, it is also an opportunity that the team knows they must take advantage of.

“We always feel good going to Sonoma,” said Anderson.  “We’ve historically done well there, so I’m sure we can turn our operation around and produce a better product this weekend than we did in Denver.  The conditions there are better than the hot and humid tracks we go to during the summer, so we’ll have a lot more power and our Summit Racing Camaros will run faster, which seems to play into our hands.

“But even though we might feel comfortable when we race in the Napa Valley, we still have to go there and execute.  As strong as our competition is running at the moment, we can’t afford to give anything up, so we have to try and make quality runs every time down the track.  As one the tracks which is usually one of our strongest, we need to make the most of it this weekend.”