Greg Anderson Claims Sixth NHRA Pro Stock Title in Dramatic Fashion

Was it going to be 63-year-old veteran Greg Anderson for a sixth Pro Stock title or one of the next-gen racers who have been on the brink of breaking into the champions club? Younger contenders Dallas Glenn, 34, and Aaron Stanfield, 29, have been seeking their first.

The semifinals at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at Pomona, Calif., on Sunday would see one of them eliminated. Glenn won his race against six-time champ Erica Enders. And Anderson, the No. 1 qualifier, knocked off Stanfield, the points leader entering this race. That set up a winner-take-all, all-KB Titan Racing showdown in the final round between Glenn and Anderson. It was teammate versus teammate, Anderson the mentor vs. Glenn the student.

It was Glenn battling to beat his teacher, just as many years earlier, Anderson had worked to best his own tutor, six-time dominator Warren Johnson with 97 victories. Anderson has surpassed Johnson with 105 victories, and now he was getting his chance to match him with championship trophies.

He equalled Johnson’s legacy, beating Glenn and dashing his hopes by two-thousandths of a second in the final. But Glenn helped deliver a 1-2 KB Titan punch to the competition.

Anderson said that “never in my wildest dreams” did he imagine such a scenario when he began to race. “It's so hard to win out here. I haven't been able to win for the last three months. I've had a great car. I haven't been able to win. I had a rocket ship today,” he said.” My boys did it for me. I didn't screw it up. We're world champions again. It feels so good.”

Anderson gave a shout-out to primary sponsor Rick Hendrick:

“Thank you, Mr. H. I told you, ‘Make more room in the trophy case. I'm bringing you some home this week.” And he said, “Thank this great race team. KB Titan is 1 and 2 in the world this year. That is beyond belief. That's too cool.”