INSIDE GREG ANDERSON'S HEAD
Sun, 2008-04-13 10:01
Greg Anderson is a winner in every sense of the word. He wins
races, he wins championships, his wife is a
stunner, he has a great sponsor in Summit Racing Equipment and overall,
life seems remarkably good for the guy who was once Warren Johnson’s
lead mechanic. But that’s how we see things because we’re not inside
Greg’s head, where turmoil sometimes reigns supreme. He may appear
nonchalant, confident and at ease, but that’s just the public persona.
Take, for example, this little outing at The Strip. For probably 90 percent of the competitors it’s just another race they desperately want to win, but for Anderson it’s far more. Just listen to his words about pressure. Greg Anderson is a winner in every sense of the word. He wins
races, he wins championships, his wife is a
stunner, he has a great sponsor in Summit Racing Equipment and overall,
life seems remarkably good for the guy who was once Warren Johnson’s
lead mechanic. But that’s how we see things because we’re not inside
Greg’s head, where turmoil sometimes reigns supreme. He may appear
nonchalant, confident and at ease, but that’s just the public persona.
Take, for example, this little outing at The Strip. For probably 90 percent of the competitors it’s just another race they desperately want to win, but for Anderson it’s far more. Just listen to his words about pressure.
“I can’t lie. Sure, there’s more pressure, not just because it’s a Summit race, but it’s (car owner) Ken Black’s home town, and all of his family and friends are out here. And a lot of our other sponsors are from out here, so this is not only a Summit race, it’s a home town race for us. There’s a lot on the line here, and this is certainly not the place we want to make any mistakes. We want to come here and shine if we shine at no other place in the country.”
On
Anderson’s first run Friday a fuel pump wire broke, leaving his car
gasping for gas, and unable to run. It was a freak deal, but it set the
team back, resulting in their “overestimating the track” on the second
run. That put them under the gun on Saturday, but they came through and
made the field.
“It always hurts if you miss that first run,” he said in a considerable understatement. “It really sets you behind if you don’t get that information from the first run. Now we have to make some major guesses about the track today, and that’s not a comfortable feeling, but we’ve had to do it before.
“Yeah, the pressure’s high, but we’ve got to come through.”
They did.
This
is the shot where we tell you Greg Anderson’s hard at work studying his
computer. Uh-uh. He’s watching the Masters gold tournament on
television!
Take, for example, this little outing at The Strip. For probably 90 percent of the competitors it’s just another race they desperately want to win, but for Anderson it’s far more. Just listen to his words about pressure. Greg Anderson is a winner in every sense of the word. He wins
This
is the shot where we tell you Greg Anderson’s hard at work studying his
computer. Uh-uh. He’s watching the Masters gold tournament on
television!
Take, for example, this little outing at The Strip. For probably 90 percent of the competitors it’s just another race they desperately want to win, but for Anderson it’s far more. Just listen to his words about pressure.
“I can’t lie. Sure, there’s more pressure, not just because it’s a Summit race, but it’s (car owner) Ken Black’s home town, and all of his family and friends are out here. And a lot of our other sponsors are from out here, so this is not only a Summit race, it’s a home town race for us. There’s a lot on the line here, and this is certainly not the place we want to make any mistakes. We want to come here and shine if we shine at no other place in the country.”
Greg Anderson ultimately qualified his Ken Black-owned, Summit-sponsored Pontiac.
“It always hurts if you miss that first run,” he said in a considerable understatement. “It really sets you behind if you don’t get that information from the first run. Now we have to make some major guesses about the track today, and that’s not a comfortable feeling, but we’ve had to do it before.
“Yeah, the pressure’s high, but we’ve got to come through.”
They did.
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