KB Racing LLC: Greg Anderson takes top spot
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE KB RACING LLC NHRA POWERADE DRAG RACING SERIES KB RACING LLC/SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT PRO STOCK PONTIAC GTO GREG ANDERSON -- DRIVER ROB DOWNING -- CREW CHIEF MEDIA CONTACT: MICKEY SCHULTZ PHONE: 920-733-2330 E-MAIL: PR4KBRacingLLC@earthlink.net 19th ANNUAL NHRA O'REILLY SUMMER NATIONALS HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA – TOPEKA, KANSAS JUNE 1-3, 2007 Qualifying: Session 1 Friday: DQ: run disallowed Session 2 Friday: 6.709 seconds at 206.48** mph (#1) Session 3 Saturday: 12.404 seconds at 70.49 mph (#1) Session 4 Saturday: 6.703* seconds at 205.91 mph (#1) * Track Elapsed Time Record ** Track Speed Record Greg Anderson takes top spot TOPEKA, Kan. (June 2, 2007) – Greg Anderson, driver of the KB Racing LLC Summit Racing Equipment Pro Stock Pontiac, nailed his fifth No. 1 qualifying spot this season in eight races at the NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals being held this weekend at Heartland Park Topeka (HPT). It was a twist of fate that landed Anderson in the top spot at the end of Friday’s qualifying. In the opening session of qualifying, Anderson was in the right lane. He launched and then shut the car down in third gear. Thinking that the run (8.834/108.78) would never make the field, which it did, he bypassed the scales failing to get his Summit Racing Pontiac weighed. As a result, the run was disallowed and Anderson received no time. Because cars are paired in the next session by their times in the first session, and since Anderson received no time, that disqualification placed Anderson in the second pair in the second session. After a short rain delay just prior to the beginning of that session, qualifying resumed and Anderson ran a then track record elapsed time of 6.709 seconds at a speed of 206.48 mph, also a track record. After running only three pair, is when fate intervened in the form of Mother Nature. The rains returned and the remainder of all qualifying was canceled with Anderson sitting on top of the Pro Stock field at the end of the first day of qualifying. “There was no sense weighing (after that first run)…so I blew by the scales,” said Anderson, after Friday’s qualifying. “I’m looking like a genius because I did that, but it was purely luck. That’s just dumb luck.” It wasn’t dumb luck that nobody was able to take the top spot away from Anderson. In fact, he gave his opponents something to think about when he lowered his elapsed time record of Friday night in today’s final qualifying session, blazing down the HPT quarter-mile in 6.703 seconds. “You have to be real careful on your burnout or you’re going to mess up your whole run,” said Anderson, as he talked about the improvement the Safety Safari made to the starting line for the final two sessions of qualifying. The three-time NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champion felt that the Safety Safari, considered one of the best at track preparation in the business, had made both lane equally good and indicated that the fans would see some good side-by-side runs during eliminations tomorrow. Both of Anderson best runs came in the left lane but he did not feel that would present a problem tomorrow. “I’m not concerned about the right lane. The two runs I made in the right lane was not an issue with the track. On one run I broke a spark plug and on the other I didn’t have enough clutch in the car. We underestimated the track. It’s nothing to blame on the race track. You can run in either lane,” reflected Anderson. In the opening round tomorrow, Anderson will go against the No. 16 qualifier Max Taylor. Taylor qualified with a pass of 6.773 seconds at 204.14 seconds. At Heartland Park Topeka, Anderson has put his KB Racing-owned, Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GTO in the winners circle three times (2003-2005). In 2003 and 2004, the three-time POWERade Pro Stock champion took the win light over Kurt Johnson. While in 2005, Anderson got the best of Dave Connolly. Additionally in 2003 and 2005 he took the top qualifying position each year and added another one today. ELIMINATIONS: Final eliminations for all teams begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Times are local Topeka time (CT) and subject to change. TELEVISION: Qualifying highlights for the 19th annual NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals were seen on ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD on Saturday (June 2) from 5:30-7:30 p.m. (Completed) -- ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD will also air same-day coverage of eliminations on Sunday (June 3) from 4-7 p.m. The elimination show repeats early Wednesday morning, June 6, from 4-6 a.m. Also, be sure to tune into NHRA Race Day, the show which provides the drag racing fan with the latest information about the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The O’Reilly Summer Nationals installment of NHRA Race Day can be seen on Sunday (June 3) on ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD from 11-11:30 a.m. Television times are ET and subject to change without notice. Check your local listing. KB RACING LLC is owned by Las Vegas businessmen Ken Black and his son Kenny Black. In the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, KB Racing LLC fields two Summit Racing Equipment Pro Stock Pontiac GTOs, one driven by Greg Anderson, a native of Duluth, Minn. who now lives in the Charlotte, N. C. area, and the other by Jason Line, a native of Wright, Minn. who now lives in the Charlotte, N. C. area, and a Top Fuel dragster, managed by Kalitta Motorsports, and driven by Hillary Will, a native of Fortuna, Calif. who now resides in Ypsilanti, Mich. Anderson won three consecutive POWERade Pro Stock Championships (2003-2005) and finished second in the point standings in 2006. Line, who finished second in points in his rookie season in 2004 and third in 2005, is the reigning 2006 POWERade Pro Stock Champion. Line was honored with the 2004 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, presented to the outstanding rookie in a professional category. Will finished No. 10 in her rookie season in Top Fuel in 2006 and was nominated for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award. The Pro Stock shop of Anderson and Line is in Mooresville, N. C. and the Kalitta Motorsports racing operation is in Ypsilanti, Mich. #### No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 6/1/2007 11:22 AM