PRO STOCK

(Ron Lewis photo)

For the seventh time in eight years, the Gatornationals Pro Stock final was decided on a holeshot, with Greg Anderson taking a 6.598/210.01 to 6.581/210.57 victory over KB Racing teammate Jason Line. At the season opener at Pomona, Anderson also beat Line in the final with a starting line advantage.

Anderson, who recorded his 80th Pro Stock victory, is 10-1 in the first season with the new fuel-injection package. Anderson also defeated Line in the 2015 Pro Stock final at the Gatornationals.

Line beat Drew Skillman (6.584/210.41 to 6.640/208.30) who reached the semifinals for the second time this season and fifth in his 25 Pro Stock races. Anderson disposed of Allen Johnson 6/596/209.98 to 6.646/208.59) in the other semifinal.

“The whole weekend was great for KB Racing,” said Anderson, “but as the weekend went and we made run after run after run and Jason’s was absolutely the strongest car, I kind of just told myself ‘if you can just find you way to the final round, take a runner-up and get ready for the next race I’ll be happy if we can make it an all-Summit final.’ That happened and somehow we found a way to steal a victory away from him.”

The Dodge Darts of Erica Enders and Jeg Coughlin Jr. had disappointing outings as the teams still try to get the combination.

(Ron Lewis photo)

Back-to-back and reigning world Pro Stock champion Erica Enders went door-handle-to-door-handle with Allen Johnson in the opening round of eliminations at, ultimately losing by a hundredth of a second, her third straight first-round loss.

"We're getting so close to where we want to be, and we knew making the switch to Mopar would take some adjustments, but it's still frustrating when you lose a drag race," Enders said, "especially when you consider all of the success we've had the last two seasons.

"I keep saying it but we've only had these Hemi motors for a month, so it's new to all of us, but when Jake Hairston and Nick Ferri tell me there are big things to come, I believe them. The more and more runs we make and the more dyno time those two have, the better it will be. Like I said, we have to be patient."

Coughlin and his team tried to fine-tune their Dodge Dart after being a little too aggressive in the first round, but Coughlin shook the tires early in the second-round run and was forced to push the clutch in and coast to a pass of 12.830 seconds at 91.11 mph while Anderson sped to the finish line with a 6.621-second pass at 209.75 mph.

"What (crew chiefs) Rick and Rickie (Jones) did to try to calm the car down and get it to accelerate that first 30, 40 feet, it really sounded like a great game plan," Coughlin said. "I was the first to be shocked as I let the clutch out. The car started to go and felt pretty good for a split second, and then I could feel it go north with the rpms, and it was shaking hard. All I could do, honestly, was push the clutch in."