Greg Anderson said it Friday, and he didn’t hedge. The racing surface at In-N-Out Dragstrip was going to come around — and by Sunday, he proved it.
By the end of eliminations at the NHRA Winternationals, Anderson had turned that read into a result, outrunning KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn with a 6.505-second pass at 209.88 mph to secure his 113th career victory and a record-tying 17th at Pomona. It was also his eighth Winternationals win, tying Bob Glidden for the most in Pro Stock history.
He didn’t stumble into it. He owned the racetrack from the start, qualifying No. 1 and running low elapsed time in every round.
Anderson made the distinction early in the weekend — this wasn’t Gainesville. The grip was there, even when the conditions said it shouldn’t be.
“This is a normal racetrack,” Anderson said. “This one that it sticks to, and the grip numbers are high, you can believe them. You can go race. It was 130 degree track temp today and it was still great… just going to get better tomorrow. And you better not be shy when you come out here tomorrow.”
He wasn’t guessing. He was reading it.
Sunday didn’t make it easy.
It dragged on, stopped, started again, and forced drivers to reset more than once. Anderson never drifted from the plan.
“Yeah, it was definitely a long day. A lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of get-ready, a lot of sit-back-down,” Anderson said. “You just got to find a way to stay in the moment, stay in the game. And I did.”
That part doesn’t show up on a timeslip, but it decides races just the same. Especially in Pro Stock, where one lapse erases everything else.
Anderson came in believing he had the car to beat. Nothing he saw Sunday changed that.
“I came to the racetrack today with a lot of confidence. I felt good. I knew I was going to have a great hot rod,” Anderson said. “It’s been great all weekend. It loves this racetrack. It just absolutely loves this racetrack.”
The numbers backed him up — 6.40s early, then the 6.505 when it mattered.
Execution decided the final.
Dallas Glenn did what Dallas Glenn does. He left first — .003 on the tree — and forced Anderson into a race he couldn’t afford to lose anywhere else.
“You do. You have to nail it perfectly or you lose. It’s really that simple,” Anderson said. “And I know going up there, if I do the best job I could possibly do, I’m probably going to be 200s behind Dallas Glenn on that starting line.”
That played out exactly as expected. Anderson was .018 — not perfect, but close enough to stay in it.
“And that’s exactly what happened in the final,” Anderson said. “He threw down a 0.003, but somehow I came up with 18. So that’s 1.5, and it was just enough to get it done.”
That margin — a car length measured in inches — has become the norm between the two. This was the third straight Pomona final round between them.
“When you race Dallas, you’ve got to be perfect,” Anderson said. “It really doesn’t matter how much you win by as long as that win light comes on, especially against Dallas because he’s riding the wave right now.”
The run itself wasn’t clean.
Anderson had to drive it more than he wanted, chasing the car early and trying to keep it out of trouble as it drifted.
“My car went left a little bit in the first 60-foot, and I struggled to get it back,” Anderson said. “It’s dark out there, and I didn’t get it back to the middle of the racetrack before it got to the eighth mile.”
That’s where races get lost — or saved.
“It was touch-and-go whether I was going to have to abort or not,” Anderson said. “But I stayed in it, and wasn’t far off the wall by the time I got through the goalpost, but just got a few there in time.”
It slowed the run, but it didn’t cost him the win.
“Inch is as good as a mile,” Anderson said. “It doesn’t matter what the distance is as long as that win light comes on.”
Inside KB Titan Racing, this is what it looks like when everything works — and when it gets uncomfortable.
Glenn continues to apply pressure every round, every race, every weekend. Anderson knows exactly what that means going forward.
“I’m so damn happy he’s on my race team and I don’t have to hate the kid,” Anderson said. “I love the kid, and it’s a blast to race him, and it’s an honor.”
That doesn’t make it easier. It just makes it cleaner.
The two have now turned Pomona into their own proving ground, trading blows with no margin for error and no room to hide.
The win also checked a box in the NHRA’s 75th anniversary season, something Anderson admitted had been on his mind after watching Glenn grab one earlier this year.
“For sure,” Anderson said. “I saw it on Dallas’s night at Phoenix, and I thought, ‘My God, what am I going to have to do to get one?’”
Now he has it. That part’s done.
Next is Charlotte, and the 4-Wide Nationals — a race where Glenn has made a habit of winning.
“It makes me feel better going there,” Anderson said. “I don’t feel like I’ve just got mopped to the floor off with myself all year long by Dallas Glenn.”
He knows what’s waiting.
“Dallas Glenn loves four wides,” Anderson said. “He’s one of the last four or five of them. He’s just about unbeatable anywhere we go, but forget it at four wide.”
At 113 wins, Anderson isn’t chasing validation. He’s still chasing the next round win, the next race, the next shot.
“I don’t think of those things, but it’s really cool to hear that,” Anderson said. “I don’t focus on it because I’m still trying to make some kind of name and some kind of record out there.”
That mindset hasn’t changed, even with the next generation already knocking.
“He’s out there going door handle to door handle with Erica Enders, and losing by thousandths of a second,” Anderson said. “He’s got it. He’s absolutely got it.”
For now, Anderson stays where he’s always been — in the other lane, still winning.
“I’ve told everyone in the world I’m going to do this as long as I still can win,” Anderson said. “And I could still win apparently, so I can’t give it up yet.”
