Greg Anderson came into Sunday’s Pro Stock eliminator with his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP qualified in the No. 1 position after running low elapsed time of the weekend at 6.599 seconds. The three-time POWERade champion defeated Johnny Gray in round one with a 6.641 e.t. at 207.88 mph, Larry Morgan (shown above) in the closest contest of the day (only one inch separated the two cars at the finish line) with a 6.644-second run at 207.91 mph, and Mike Edwards in the semifinals with a 6.665 e.t. at 207.91 mph.
 In the semifinals Connolly’s 6.676/206.83 took the win over the 6.683/206.04 of V Gaines. |
In the finals against Dave Connolly's Chevy Cobalt, both cars shook hard off the line. Anderson got back in the throttle and struggled to the finish line making it there first with a 7.578 e.t. at 200.23 mph. Connolly couldn't recover in time and coasted to the stripe with a 20.285 second run.
"I don't know how I won in the finals," Anderson said. "Obviously something happened to the race track there - we missed it bad but Dave (Connolly) did too. I owe that win to Jason Line. He stuck his head into the cockpit right at the starting line and said, 'If it shakes, get back in it. Don't lift.' I did that a few races and gave one up. It was a pedal fest and it was ugly, but I got the win.
"Two or three races ago the same thing happened where Dave and I were racing, I aborted the run, he got back in it and won. I forgot about it until Jason gave me a heads up before the final round. He told me if you have to get back in it, pedal it and get down the racetrack. If Jason hadn't said that, I'd probably still be sitting there. Things worked out for the best and somehow the Summit Racing Pontiac is in the winner's circle."
It was Anderson's third victory this season and his fourth overall at this venue. Connolly advanced to his third final-round appearance in just six races this year, and posted his second career runner-up finish at this event (he was runner-up to Jason Line in 2006).
PRO STOCK BIKE
Schumacher Electric Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Chip Ellis won his first race of the season at the NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, his sixth in nine career final rounds and his first since Sonoma 2006.
Ellis had the quickest bike in all four eliminations rounds on Sunday and defeated No. 1 qualifier Chris Rivas in the final stanza for the 108th national-event victory for for Don Schumacher Racing. The victory also moved Ellis up to second in the point standings.
Ellis roared through the field, setting top speed of the event with a 192.88-mph pass in qualifying. He began the day by defeating Joe Desantis with a stunning elapsed time of 6.923 seconds, which tied for low ET of the event, at 192.49 mph. He followed with victories over Steve Johnson (6.976/190.81 to 7.081/189.50), reigning series champion Matt Smith (7.005/190.14 to 7.079/186.87) and finally Rivas in the money round (7.040/187.21 to 7.104/183.52).
 (Debbie Gastelu photo) |
The fact that he beat the team he raced for last season was not lost on Ellis. "To be perfectly honest with you, it was awesome," said Ellis. "I know what (co-owner/crew chief) George Smith is capable of. I rode his bike all last year and he's a great tuner and Chris Rivas is doing a great job for him. But, on the other hand, I think I'm with the best tuner in Steve Tartaglia. He's got a bike that everybody else says is not competitive, but if you knew how much that guy worked and how much dedication he's put into this program you would know why our Schumacher Electric Suzuki is so fast.
Crew chief Steve Tartaglia (left) with Ellis and crew.
"We probably should have won another race or two already this year," continued Ellis, "but we haven't. We won today and that's all that really matters right now. It's been a long time since Steve's won a race. I think his last race win was at Houston last year and I didn't win any races last year. All of the guys on our team work very hard and it's just awesome to win on a Suzuki. I just can't say enough about Steve, that's the bottom line. He won rounds today. We had the fastest bike every round so we deserved to win."
POINT STANDINGS
Top Fuel: 1. Tony Schumacher, 1,009; 2. Antron Brown, 765; 3. Larry Dixon, 756; 4. Rod Fuller, 668; 5. Hillary Will, 652; 6. Cory McClenathan, 633; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 609; 8. Doug Herbert, 499; 9. Doug Kalitta, 483; 10. David Grubnic, 480.
Funny Car: 1. Tim Wilkerson, 807; 2. Ashley Force, 675; 3. John Force, 629; 4. Tony Pedregon, 598; 5. Robert Hight, 592; 6. Cruz Pedregon, 572; 7. Gary Densham, 529; 8. Mike Neff, 517; 9. Ron Capps, 503; 10. Bob Tasca III, 439.
Pro Stock: 1. Kurt Johnson, 792; 2. Greg Anderson, 766; 3. Jeg Coughlin, 730; 4. Jason Line, 719; 5. Mike Edwards, 601; 6. V. Gaines, 595; 7. Allen Johnson, 559; 8. Ron Krisher, 554; 9. Greg Stanfield, 520; 10. Warren Johnson, 501.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1. Andrew Hines, 556; 2. Chip Ellis, 478; 3. Matt Smith, 460; 4. Chris Rivas, 407; 5. Matt Guidera, 361; 6. Angelle Sampey, 360; 7. Eddie Krawiec, 325; 8. Craig Treble, 292; 9. Karen Stoffer, 240; 10. Hector Arana, 234.