Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Las Vegan’s drivers excel in Pro Stock division races

Thursday, May 6, 2004 | 9:16 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Las Vegas businessman Ken Black had plenty to celebrate over the weekend.

On Saturday, Black's drivers in the NHRA Pro Stock division -- reigning champion Greg Anderson and teammate Jason Line -- qualified first and second, respectively, at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

On Sunday, Black piloted his 1968 Camaro to a final-round victory in the D/Gas category at the 16th annual Goodguys/K&N Filters Nitro Nationals nostalgia drag races at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Rain postponed Sunday's NHRA finals in Bristol to Monday, and Black was celebrating again when both Anderson and Line advanced to the Pro Stock final for the second consecutive race. Anderson prevailed, edging Line by about 12 feet for his fifth victory in six NHRA national events this season.

Anderson, who has won four consecutive Pro Stock events, leads Kurt Johnson by 198 points in the Powerade standings. Line is in third place, 295 points off the pace.

"Jason is (getting) tougher by the run -- not the weekend, by the run," Anderson said of his teammate. "I knew I was going to have to dig deep to get the win away from him.

"He's going to be a major player in this category. I thought it was going to take six months or so, but I think it is going to happen much sooner."

Anderson, who was the top qualifier for the 11th consecutive race, has won 12 of the past 16 Pro Stock races in the Vegas General Construction Pontiac Grand Am.

"It was a good race for all of us," Anderson said. "A great day for KB Racing and Ken Black. We're all enjoying ourselves so much right now.

"We all shake our heads every day. You just never expect to run like this in this class. I can't believe it's happening, but it sure is fun -- maybe not for everyone else, but it is for us."

"I finally won at Bristol," Force said after his victory. "I was beginning to wonder if I ever would."

Actually, Force won the $200,000 top prize in the 1999 NHRA Showdown, which pitted Funny Cars against Top Fuel dragsters, at Bristol Dragway but the all-star event was not a points race.

With his 110th career victory in the category, Force moved to within 42 points of front-runner Del Worsham in the Funny Car standings.

"Midnight Mayhem" for street-legal cars and motorcycles will take over The Strip Friday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. while "Motorcycle Madness," the motorcycle-only version of "Midnight Mayhem" will have the track Saturday from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

Also on Saturday, The Strip will host the Jerry's Nugget Championship Drag Racing Series points races, Short Line Express Markets NHRA Junior Dragster points races, Las Vegas F-Body Night at the Drags and the Diesel Hot Rod Association from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. A full schedule of events can be found at www.lvms.com.