Pro Stock champion Anderson making quick work of records

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 10:40 a.m.

ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

TODAY

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open

7:30 a.m. -- Sportsman qualifying/eliminations

2 p.m. -- Comp Eliminator qualifying

3 p.m. -- Pro Mod qualifying

3:30 p.m. -- Pro Stock/Pro Stock Bike qualifying

4 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

5 p.m. -- Pro Mod qualifying

5:30 p.m. -- Pro Stock/Pro Stock Bike qualifying

6:30 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

SATURDAY

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open

7:30 a.m. -- Sportsman eliminations

10 a.m. -- Comp eliminator (Round 1)

10:30 a.m. -- Pro Stock/Pro Stock Bike qualifying

11:30 a.m. -- Budweiser Top Fuel Shootout introductions

Noon -- Budweiser Top Fuel Shootout (Round 1)

12:15 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying

1:15 p.m. -- Pro Mod qualifying

1:45 p.m. -- Budweiser Top Fuel Shootout (Round 2)

2 p.m. -- Pro Stock/Pro Stock Bike qualifying

3 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster qualifying

3:30 p.m. -- Budweiser Top Fuel Shootout (Final)

3:40 p.m. -- Funny Car qualifying

4:30 p.m. -- Pro Mod qualifying

5 p.m. -- Comp eliminator (Round 2)

SUNDAY

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open

10 a.m. -- Pre-race ceremonies

11 a.m. -- Final eliminations

Greg Anderson has some bad news for his fellow NHRA Pro Stock drivers.

Anderson, who has won 25 races and two Pro Stock championships the past two seasons, said he is confident he and his Summit Racing Equipment team can improve upon their performance in 2005.

It may be hard to imagine improving upon a season that -- with two events remaining -- includes 13 victories, 15 No. 1 qualifying spots and 68 rounds wins in 21 races, but Anderson made good on a similar prediction a year ago after winning 12 races, 14 poles and 67 round wins in 2003.

"I didn't want to sound cocky or anything like that, but it was our first full year together last year and I just felt the team was getting better week by week and I just didn't see that run ending," Anderson said. "I knew of the things we were going to do over the offseason to make the team bigger and better and I really felt in my own heart that we'd be better.

"The only thing I couldn't tell anybody was how many races we would win because it just comes down to what the rest of your competition does in the off-season, how many gains they make. Apparently, we made more gains than the rest of them did and we got off to a great jump this year and we got a whole bunch of wins."

As impressive as his season has been to date, Anderson isn't through attempting to rewrite the NHRA record book. With a win in this weekend's ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Anderson can break John Force's 8-year-old record for most victories in a season. Although Anderson has not won in the past three races, he has won each of the past three Las Vegas events from the pole.

Because his team owner, Ken Black, lives in Las Vegas, Anderson said the spring and fall stops in Las Vegas are always special events for his team.

"It's like our home track," Anderson said of The Strip. "We get tons of Ken's employees and family out there so it's a great deal and it's a lot of fun. We've had a lot of success there in recent memory -- we've won the last three races there -- so I absolutely look forward to coming there every time.

"We've been working our tails off these last couple of weeks and we've been using every one of those days to try and make this operation better and to try and get our 14th win here this weekend. It kind of slipped away from me the last couple of races and I want to get it before the season is up; I want to get that record from John Force and I can't think of a better place to get it than in Las Vegas."

After winning 13 of the first 18 Pro Stock races this season, Anderson conceded he and his teammates may have suffered a letdown after clinching the 2004 NHRA championship on Sept. 26 in Texas.

"Sometimes you think that you go to every race and you race a hundred percent and you give it all you've got but I'm sure, subconsciously, you're thinking, 'you know what, we've already done a great job and we've got a little bit of room to relax and experiment a little bit,' " Anderson said.

"I haven't gone out there with the expectation of not being able to win because we're going to goof off or try crazy things, but I suppose you get into that mode a little bit. Now that it's been three races since we've won, it's starting to bother me again. It's time to get the nose back to the grindstone and start doing things right again and start getting those race wins again."

The fact that Anderson considers his current three-race winless streak a slump is a testament to how dominating he has been during the past two seasons.

"It's so far beyond any expectations or goals we set for ourselves," Anderson said of his performance since the start of the 2003 season. "Everybody sets goals, but I'll be the first to tell you we didn't set anything this high. We're kind of astonished ourselves at what we've been able to accomplish.

"We don't think it has been luck or anything like that; we think we've set up a great program here and we've been very methodical the way we've done it, but you just don't think that it can happen because of the competition that's out there these days. That part has really been a shock."

So what does Anderson do next year to top this season?

"I guess I've got to give the same answer I did last year: If we can keep the nucleus of this team together, which I don't see as a problem right now, we should be a better team next year," he said.

"You set goals, you accomplish your goals and you've got to set them higher so we have to set them higher next year. We have to try and win more races and we've obviously got to try and win a third championship. Can we do it? We don't know that yet but we're sure going to try."