April 15, 2012
That's Racin'

Anderson wins Pro Stock Four-Wides at zMax
By Keith Cannon

Greg Anderson of Mooresville is the winningest driver in the short history of the zMax Dragway. And to hear him tell it, the most unexpected.

“It’s a crazy, crazy deal,” Anderson said after winning the Pro Stock Division in the NHRA Four-Wide finals on Sunday. “I thought I had lost a couple of different ways, but ended up winning. I feel fortunate.”

Anderson said he thought he had finished a couple of car lengths behind his KB Racing teammate, Jason Line of Troutman, in the final four-way elimination race in his class. But Line was disqualified for leaving the starting line early. And on video review, Anderson was ruled the winner over Erica Enders of New Orleans, who had taken an early lead. Anderson, who had qualified seventh, took the top spot with a time of 6.540 seconds, his second title in a row in the Four-Wide and third overall at zMax.

Line’s race day frustration extended to a fourth consecutive NHRA Pro Stock event in Concord. He has qualified first in all three runnings of the Four-Wide but hasn’t won yet.

“He (Line) had a great hot rod and I had a great hot rod, and it was a good day for the team,” Anderson said. “It could have gone to any one of the four of us in the race.”

Enders was trying to become the first woman in the 61-year history of the NHRA to win a Pro Stock event, and Vincent Nobile rounded out the field.

In the Funny Car class, Robert Hight of Yorba Linda, Calif., edged Cruz Pedregon by 9/1000th of a second to take his fourth straight win. Ron Capps finished a close third. John Force, who was the last NHRA Funny Car driver to win at least four in a row (in 1994, when he won five in a row), trailed the field.

“It’s an accomplishment to win four in a row, because this class is so tough,” Hight said.

“To race three Hall of Famers in the final and beat them is unbelievable. Every week you kind of think this is where it ends, but we’re still going.”

Spencer Massey of Fort Worth, Texas, dominated the final in the Top Fuel division, where upsets had been the rule earlier in the day. He won with a new national speed record of 332.18, and a time of 3.803 seconds. Antron Brown at No.?3 had been the top qualifier to advance to the championship final. Tony Schumacher, who hasn’t won in his last 10 finals, and Doug Kalitta also made the final round.

“I wasn’t expecting to go 332 in the final round, but it shows you how good our team is and how good the track is,” Massey said. “I didn’t know who had won at first, because in the four-wide you can’t see all the cars. You just have to have patience and keep your head in the game.”