Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 | 10:25 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
Greg Anderson won the NHRA Pro Stock championship, a record-tying 11 races and set the national elapsed time and speed records in his category -- all in one season.
Anderson said there are times when he can't believe what he has accomplished this year while driving the Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am for team owner Ken Black of Las Vegas.
"I feel very, very fortunate right now," Anderson said after winning Sunday's ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "It's great to be Greg Anderson right now and I almost feel guilty; it's not like anyone should have this much fortune.
"But it's not like I've been lucky all year; we've pretty much earned our luck and made our own luck. We haven't had any bad luck or misfortune and that is being lucky."
Luck aside, Anderson wondered aloud how he would be able to follow this storybook season.
"It's just incredible and I keep thinking how in the world am I going to match this next year; what are we going to do for an encore?" he said. "But I've got such a great group of guys and hard workers who just love to race and love to succeed and work hard. I'm not going to make any predictions but it is very possible that we could be even stronger next year with what we've got in place with the people and the facilities and the backing from Ken Black.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see us go a little farther next year and do even better."
Anderson can top his phenomenal season with one more record. A win in the Nov. 9 season finale in Pomona, Calif., would give Anderson the record for most Pro Stock victories in a season -- a record he now shares with Darrell Alderman.
"To win a championship is special, to set the E.T. record and the speed record in one year and break the single-season win record ... there's just not much left that anybody could do," he said. "I can't remember anyone ever in the Pro Stock class having a season like this and it's pretty special. If I can continue to keep this margin next year, I'll be a very happy man."
Not only has Anderson been fast this season, he has been consistent. Anderson has been the top qualifier at 13 of the 22 national events this season, which he attributed to the tuning abilities of Rob Downing and Jeff Perley.
"I think that's where my car guys come into play; that's when Rob Downing and Jeff Perley just absolutely shine," Anderson said. "It doesn't matter if it's 100 degrees out or 50 degrees out, they do a better job getting the car down the racetrack.
"You can have all the power in the world -- and, yes, I think I've got the most power of anybody out there -- but if you can't do the right things to the setup of the car, the clutch, the suspension, you're just another also-ran. That's what really blows people's minds out here: It's not the run I make once in a while, I do it every doggone time down the racetrack. That is a tribute to Rob and Jeff."
Kalitta and 2003 Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon earned the same amount of points in the past 23 national events but Kalitta was declared the top qualifier based on a tiebreaker -- averaging the top 10 elapsed times for each driver. Kalitta wound up with a 4.498-second average to Dixon's 4.533.
Dixon is the two-time defending champion of the bonus program, which pays $100,000 to the winner. The eight quickest Top Fuel drivers from the 2003 season who qualified for the event are Kalitta, Dixon, Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan, Darrell Russell, David Baca, John Smith and Doug Herbert.
Qualifying and time trials are today and Friday, but there is no spectator admission either day. Racing will continue Saturday and Sunday, with spectator gates opening at 7 a.m. both days and racing beginning at 7.
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