By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
By Greg Anderson's extremely high standards, the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season has been a bit of a disappointment.
But the five-time Pro Stock world champion got a boost in Friday night's opening qualifying session for the Menards NHRA Nationals at Heartland Motorsports Park..
Five-time world Pro Stock champ Greg Anderson earned the provisional No. 1 qualifier in the Menards NHRA Nationals Friday night. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Anderson, the winningest driver in pro stock history, earned the top spot in the first of three qualifying runs with a pass of 6.677 seconds at 205.38 miles per hour in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
Currently seventh in points, the season hasn’t gone as planned for Anderson, who is still seeking his first appearance in the final round.
But he took a big step with his run on Friday, also putting him on track for his 122nd career No. 1 qualifier.
“We made a lot of changes,'' Anderson said. “We had three weeks at home and did a lot of work, but you just never know what you have until you get to the race track.
“This year I've been kind of let down when I get to the race track, but this was a good night. It's a great feeling I haven't had for a while, and I think we can even do better. It was good to see that when we pull the run up on the computer, it's got a little bit of room. Hopefully we can improve.''
“(It was) completely different conditions than we've seen all year, but maybe that's what my race car needed. It went right up to the top, and I'm not going to complain one little bit. It's still going to be hot tomorrow but slightly cooler conditions to see if we can improve on that.”
Reigning world champ Erica Enders is in the second spot after her run of 6.686 at 204.63, as Anderson and Enders were the only two drivers in the 6.60s.
Troy Coughlin Jr., the defending event winner in Topeka, is third with a 6.704 at 205.16. Coughlin is also the most recent winner in the category, winning in Denver.
Pro Stock qualifying continues at 2:15 p.m. Saturday, with eliminations getting under way at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS
At Heartland Motorsports Park
FRIDAY QUALIFYING RESULTS
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