Greg Anderson wins Battle for the Saddle, earns 130th career NHRA Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier

by Mike Haag | Posted on Saturday, October 12th, 2024

By Mike Haag, Raceday San Antonio

ENNIS – Five-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson recorded his 130th career No. 1 on Saturday at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex.

Greg Anderson, Pro stock No. 1 qualifier. NHRA photo

Anderson, who has won six times at the Texas Motorplex, heads into Sunday’s elimination rounds with his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, a hot rod that is running better than it has all season.

On Friday night during the Stampede of Speed qualifying time trials, Anderson made a pass at 6.524 seconds at 208.99 mph to earn the top spot and stay in the hunt for the title. It was his sixth No. 1 qualifier this season.

Anderson is currently in fourth place in the standings and trails points leader and KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn, who leads Anderson by 116 points. Aaron Stanfield is second in points, followed by Erica Enders, the defending champion and last year’s winner at the Texas Motorplex.

Enders qualified second after posting a 6.526 at 209.09 run on Friday. David Cuadra was third with a 6.532 at 208.60, followed by Stanfield and Glenn.

Greg Anderson. NHRA photo

Glenn, Stanfield, Enders and Anderson have all been the four semifinalists at each of the first three races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. But on Sunday, Glenn, Stanfield and Anderson will all be on the same side of the ladder, while Enders sits on the other side of the bracket, which gives Anderson potential opportunities to gain on them in the points battle. If the top two in points meet in the second round, a potential matchup with Anderson could await in the semifinals should Anderson make it that far.

“Three of us are on one side,” Anderson said. “Erica happened to end up on the other side and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for her. We’ll see how it plays out tomorrow. There’s only going to be one of the three left in the semifinal on our side of the ladder. Without something like that happening at one of these races I probably wouldn’t have a chance to make up ground because if we all four keep making the semifinals, you’re not going to make up much ground. It’s really the only chance I’ve got.”

Anderson, whose last victory at the Texas Motorplex was in 2021, has two wins this season (Phoenix and Charlotte). He has raced in the final round three times this season and has an overall 29-15 win-loss round record.

“We’ll see how the cards fall tomorrow, but it’s an opportunity. I like that. We’re going to be fast. I’m excited to race, and it could be a turning point of the season. It’s time to either get it done or go home and I love that. That’s what I need to get up on the wheel. It’s going to be fun tomorrow.”

Greg Anderson at the Texas NHRA FallNationals. Photo courtesy of Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase

Weather conditions on Sunday could make things interesting for the NHRA Pro Stock drivers. The weather forecast calls for sunny skies with temperatures in the high 90s, which could result in a slippery race surface. It could also result in being one of hottest racing days of the year.

“Last night’s run afforded us a little bit of luxury today, to be able to go out there and do some things different with the car,” said Anderson, who will have a solo in the first run as would-be-opponent Eric Latino crashed in qualifying and will not be able to make the call.

“We found a major problem with the engine tonight, so that’s why I wasn’t able to run as fast as I should have today. The car itself was happy. We put that together and get the engine problems fixed tomorrow, we’re going to be fast. I’m excited to race, and it could be a turning point of the season.”

Eliminations rounds for the NHRA Texas FallNationals at Texas Motorplex are set to begin at noon CT on Sunday.

ENNIS, Texas — Monday’s first-round pairings for eliminations for the 39th annual Texas NHRA
FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, the 18th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Sunday. DNQs listed below pairings.

Top Fuel — 1. Brittany Force, 3.667 seconds, 338.19 mph vs. 16. Spencer Hyde, 3.833, 318.49; 2.
Shawn Reed, 3.676, 330.71 vs. 15. Tony Stewart, 3.816, 327.25; 3. Steve Torrence, 3.721, 332.03 vs.
14. Krista Baldwin, 3.788, 322.35; 4. Shawn Langdon, 3.727, 328.61 vs. 13. Jasmine Salinas, 3.780,
330.30; 5. Antron Brown, 3.737, 326.75 vs. 12. Justin Ashley, 3.778, 326.02; 6. Billy Torrence,
3.743, 318.13 vs. 11. Josh Hart, 3.776, 327.99; 7. Clay Millican, 3.752, 323.74 vs. 10. Doug
Kalitta, 3.775, 328.30; 8. Ida Zetterstrom, 3.757, 323.42 vs. 9. Tony Schumacher, 3.762, 324.93.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Scott Palmer, 3.883, 306.79; 18. Cameron Ferre, 4.557, 217.97; 19. Kebin
Kinsley, 4.656, 190.92.

Funny Car — 1. Austin Prock, Chevy Camaro, 3.813, 333.09 vs. 16. Terry Haddock, Ford Mustang,
4.100, 282.11; 2. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.823, 335.20 vs. 15. Bobby Bode, Mustang, 4.025,
313.41; 3. Jack Beckman, Camaro, 3.825, 331.49 vs. 14. Chad Green, Mustang, 3.968, 314.84; 4. Blake
Alexander, Mustang, 3.833, 326.37 vs. 13. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 3.931, 328.90; 5. Ron Capps,
Toyota GR Supra, 3.862, 331.44 vs. 12. Dave Richards, Mustang, 3.920, 315.99; 6. Daniel Wilkerson,
Mustang, 3.871, 327.68 vs. 11. Alexis DeJoria, GR Supra, 3.915, 327.51; 7. Cruz Pedregon, Charger,
3.878, 325.90 vs. 10. J.R. Todd, GR Supra, 3.913, 326.44; 8. Paul Lee, Charger, 3.889, 323.60 vs.
9. Dale Creasy Jr., Charger, 3.909, 326.96.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Buddy Hull, 4.113, 304.75; 18. Jeff Diehl, 4.129, 283.70; 19. Chris King, 4.131,
301.51.

Pro Stock — 1. Greg Anderson, Chevy Camaro, 6.524, 208.99 vs. 16. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.578,
209.30; 2. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.526, 209.09 vs. 15. Cristian Cuadra, Ford Mustang, 6.573, 207.84;
3. David Cuadra, Camaro, 6.532, 208.60 vs. 14. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.573, 209.10; 4. Aaron
Stanfield, Camaro, 6.533, 209.78 vs. 13. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.570, 209.90; 5. Dallas Glenn,
Camaro, 6.535, 210.05 vs. 12. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.566, 211.09; 6. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro,
6.554, 210.24 vs. 11. Cory Reed, Camaro, 6.564, 210.08; 7. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.555, 209.08 vs.
10. Camrie Caruso, Camaro, 6.558, 209.69; 8. Fernando Cuadra Jr., Camaro, 6.557, 208.61 vs. 9. Jerry
Tucker, Camaro, 6.558, 210.64.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Deric Kramer, 6.586, 208.59; 18. Kenny Delco, 6.588, 209.65; 19. Derrick Reese,
6.607, 208.85.

Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.749, 202.52 vs. Bye; 2. Matt Smith, Buell,
6.756, 201.77 vs. 15. Malcolm Phillips Jr., Suzuki, 7.020, 190.44; 3. Hector Arana Jr, EBR, 6.773,
200.40 vs. 14. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 6.956, 192.88; 4. Jianna Evaristo, Buell, 6.778, 201.81 vs. 13.
Ron Tornow, Victory, 6.932, 197.85; 5. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.780, 196.99 vs. 12. Geno Scali,
Suzuki, 6.903, 195.89; 6. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.808, 201.41 vs. 11. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 6.870,
197.26; 7. John Hall, Beull, 6.824, 199.89 vs. 10. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.856, 197.89; 8. Chase Van
Sant, Suzuki, 6.832, 198.92 vs. 9. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 6.840, 198.75.

About the Author Mike Haag

Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 35 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 18 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.