It’s understandable why three-time Pro Stock champ Greg Anderson has this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park circled on his calendar. As they do for each of the NHRA POWERade Series’ 24 races, Anderson and KB Racing teammate Jason Line will each be strapping themselves into Summit Racing Pontiac GXP team cars, so a win here would obviously hold significant meaning. And Anderson enters the Buckeye state coming off of an impressive performance last weekend at Englishtown, capturing both his 64^th career No. 1 qualifier and 54^th career win.

“Summit Racing Equipment has been terrific to this team,” Anderson said, “and this week, we'll be competing at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, so you kind of get an idea why this race is so important to everyone on our race team. With this event being right in Summit Racing's backyard, just a few miles down the road from their headquarters in Tallmadge, Ohio, this race has become the biggest race of the year to us. They bring their employees over to the event, they take a lot of pride in the facility and in the way the event runs. Doing well there makes it very important to us.

“I couldn't have dreamed of a better company and a better group of people to be involved with. Everything about Summit Racing Equipment is first class and this year they are celebrating 40 Years of Performance. Paul Sergi, Ray Tatko, Jeff Winters, Kirk Heinbuch, Don Lower, and Scott Peterson, I'm so proud to be affiliated with them. They're a great group of people and a perfect fit for what we're trying to accomplish at KB Racing, and we hope to be associated with Summit Racing for a long, long time, at least for as long as we continue to race.”

Anderson’s win at Englishtown moved him into second place in the fluid Pro Stock standings, 26 points in arrears of points leader Kurt Johnson. Johnson has powered his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt to the top of the standings with wins at St. Louis and Chicago as well as a class-leading 20 round wins.

“Our job, and everyone in the class, is to try and get to the top,” Anderson said, “and at this time, as quickly as things change over the course of a few weeks, it would be virtually impossible to pick a favorite. Stay tuned. It promises to be a long, hot, exciting summer.”

During the first 11 events of the 2008 campaign, the factory hot rod division has seen eight different winners. Anderson and Johnson are the only two Pro Stockers with multiple wins this season, but they’ve already been joined in the winner’s circle by Chevy drivers Jeg Coughlin Jr., Ron Krisher, and Dave Connolly, as well as Pontiac drivers Jason Line and Mike Edwards.

"I know I say this every year, that there are going to be more tough cars, but it seems that there are so many teams that have elevated their game,” Anderson said. “I can't remember when, maybe 2002, when you've had so many cars that were capable of winning a race. You think you'd come home kicking rocks, but you'd don’t because you know you're doing your best. Everyone else is too, though, and everybody can beat everybody. That's what is making Pro Stock such a great class right now. It's causing ulcers for us but a lot of fun for the fans, and that's what drag racing should be about.”

Eight NHRA POWERade Pro Stock racers also head to Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park this weekend with a chance to win $50,000 in the 24^th annual K&N Horsepower Challenge, a lucrative race-within-a-race bonus event scheduled for this Saturday, June 28. Each year, the eight drivers who accumulate the most points in qualifying during the bonus event series earn their place in the K&N Horsepower Challenge. Drivers started earning points for the 2008 K&N Horsepower Challenge at the 2007 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals and continued to accumulate points through the 2008 Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals held last weekend at Englishtown, N.J. This year’s K&N Horsepower Challenge lineup includes No. 1 qualifier Anderson, Allen Johnson, Chevy drivers Kurt Johnson, Ron Krisher, Jeg Coughlin Jr., and Dave Connolly, and Pontiac drivers Jason Line and Warren Johnson.

“Summit Racing really picked a great racetrack to become affiliated with,” Anderson said. “The Bader family has been in drag racing for years and everything about their operation at Norwalk is first-class; for the fans, the racers, all of the sponsors, you couldn't ask for a friendlier group of people than those you meet there in Norwalk.”

Second annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals

GM RACING STATS AND FACTS

* Stykemain Pontiac-Buick-GMC in Defiance, Ohio, will hold an NHRA Motorsports Extravaganza on Thursday, June 26, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event, which will be held in conjunction with this year's Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, will feature a driver autograph session and an up-close opportunity to meet Pontiac's contingent of NHRA Pro Stock racers. The Motorsports Extravaganza and open house will also help celebrate Stykemain Pontiac-Buick-GMC's new location at 25124 Elliott Road.

* Greg Anderson’s win last weekend at Englishtown was the most recent win for a Pontiac and the 185^th all time for Pontiac in the Pro Stock category. Of those 185 victories, Greg Anderson has the most behind the wheel of a Pontiac with 52 victories (54 total career wins), Warren Johnson is next on the list with 42 wins and Jim Yates is third with 25.

* With Anderson’s win, he and his KB Racing teammate Jason Line have now combined for seven

consecutive Pro Stock victories at Englishtown (Anderson; 2007-08, 2002-03, Line; 2004-06).

* Elyria, Ohio, native Dave Connolly is the defending event champion in Pro Stock at Norwalk, winning last year’s inaugural event by besting Larry Morgan in the final round.

* The Summit Racing Equipment Raceway Park Pro Stock track record for elapsed time is held by last year’s winner Dave Connolly at 6.628 seconds in a Chevy Cobalt, and Pontiac driver Jason Line has the speed record at 207.94 mph.

* Pro Stock points leader Kurt Johnson's victory at Chicago earlier this month in the ACDelco Chevy Cobalt was the 152^nd all time in the NHRA Pro Stock category for Chevrolet.

* After 11 of 24 races on the schedule completed, and just seven events remaining before the Countdown to 1 cut at Indianapolis, eight drivers in GM-branded cars occupy a spot in the top 10 of the Pro Stock standings. Kurt Johnson (Chevrolet) leads the standings with 792 points,

Greg Anderson (Pontiac) is in second place with 766 points, Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Chevrolet) is third with 730 points, Jason Line (Pontiac) is fourth with 719 points, and Mike Edwards (Pontiac) is fifth with 601 points. Ron Krisher (Chevrolet) is in eighth place with 554 points, Greg Stanfield (Pontiac) is ninth with 520 points, and Warren Johnson (Pontiac) is 10th with 501 points. Dave Connolly (Chevrolet) is just outside the top 10 in 11^th place with 428 points.

* Chevy Impala SS Funny Car drivers have combined for six victories so far this year to give the red bowtie the most wins this year in the class. Tim Wilkerson’s most recent win at Englishtown gives him a class-leading three victories (Englishtown, St. Louis, Las Vegas) on the season, Tony Pedregon has a pair of victories (Gainesville, Chicago), and Del Worsham drove the CSK Chevrolet to a win in April at Houston.

* Tim Wilkerson’s win in Englishtown was Chevrolet's 94^th all time in the nitro Funny Car category, and it was also the 188^th time a Chevrolet had advanced to a Funny Car final round.

* After 11 of 24 races, three Chevy Impala drivers occupy a spot in the top 10 of the NHRA POWERade Funny Car standings including points leader Tim Wilkerson in the Levi Ray & Shoup Chevrolet. Wilkerson leads all Funny Car drivers with 807 points. Tony Pedregon in the Q Horsepower Chevrolet is in fourth place with 598 points, and Gary Densham in the Racebricks Chevy Impala SS is seventh with 529 points.

A two-hour telecast of qualifying coverage for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday, June 28, beginning at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Coverage on ESPN2 continues on Sunday, June 29, when NHRA Race Day will kick off eliminator coverage starting at 11 a.m. Eastern, and concludes when three hours of final eliminations will be televised beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.