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!

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.

KORETSKY, HIGHT, SCHUMACHER TOP QUALIFIERS; JOHN FORCE’S QUEST FOR 1,000 ON HOLD WITH DNQ

Kenny Koretsky recorded the first No. 1 qualifier of his career.

Pro
Stock’s Kenny Koretsky goes into race day at the top of the field today
for the first time in 18 years of racing after earning his first career
No. 1 qualifier at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

John Force, in the hunt for the 1,000th round win that will place him
in the highest level of the history books, failed to qualify for the
Funny Car starting line-up with his second consecutive DNQ at this
event. It’s the first time in his prolific career that Force has failed
to qualify at the same event two years in a row. Instead it was his
teammate Robert Hight who had the luck, earning his 24th career No. 1
qualifier and the first of the season with a 4.849 at 321.27 in his
last attempt in his Auto Club Ford Mustang.

Ashley Force, driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, will appear in
the May 2008 issue of Men’s Fitness magazine which will be on
newsstands April 14th.   This issue has actor Jason Lewis on the cover.

In December, Men’s Fitness sent a photographer, a wardrobe assistant,
and make-up artists to the John Force Racing shop in Yorba Linda,
Calif., to capture the image of Ashley that appears on page 117.

This weekend Ashley is looking for her first career Funny Car victory
at the 9th annual Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. The
upcoming media national print exposure was on her mind but she was also
focused on getting coverage in another publication.

“I am really aiming for getting that National Dragster cover which
means I got my first win. That would be the best way to kick off all
these media things. The magazine and TV stuff was all done months ago
and it is just hitting this week,” said the 2007 NHRA Rookie of the
Year. “It would be great to come out of Las Vegas with a win and get
people really excited. When you see this stuff we want people to be
interested in what this person does. Our goal is to let people know
about my Castrol GTX race team and NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. I
like doing the crazy photo shoots but really we just want to bring fans
out to the drag races.”

Hight’s Qualifying Effort Puts Washer and Dryer in Fan’s
Hands

Robert Hight used his last pass of the day at the 9^th annual
Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals event in Las Vegas, to capture the No. 1
qualifying position with a run of 4.849 second and hand Carolyn Hills of
Goodyear, Ariz., a new Whirlpool washer and dryer as part of the BrandSource
“Win with Force” promotion. At sixteen select events during the 2008 POWERade
Drag Racing Series when any one of the four John Force Racing Funny Cars
qualifies No 1 at the event one lucky winner wins a Whirlpool washer and dryer
set.

“This is just so wonderful. This was the first time that I have been to
a national event. My son is a drag racer in
Salt
Lake and we
are big John Force Racing fans. I have been a Force fan for quite a few years
and we really like all his drivers,” said an excited Hills.

Kenny Koretsky recorded the first No. 1 qualifier of his career.

Make no bones about it, Kenny Koretsky plans to tell everyone he can what happened in Vegas.

Koretsky will begin Sunday eliminations in the No. 1 position on the
strength of his Friday run of 6.724 seconds. If you thought the run
might have been a fluke, Koretsky returned in Saturday’s heat to lay
down a 6.726 elapsed time.

"It feels great," said Koretsky. "We needed that. We have a lot of NHRA
Nitro Fish fans who want to see us win a race (another milestone that
has eluded Koretsky).  We got a great reception from the fans when we
came back (down the return road).  They gave us a standing ovation and
that means a lot."

Robert
Hight took a page from his father-in-law's playbook and went to the top
of qualifying in the final session. (Roger Richards)

On his last run qualifying run Robert Hight took a page from John
Force’s playbook and drove his Auto Club Ford Mustang to the top of the
field securing his first No.1 qualifying spot as well as the Full
Throttle Award –presented to the team that was most consistent during
the two days of qualifying- in the process.

“To go down the track here all four runs is unbelievable. I knew that
last run as going to be a good run,” said the former Funny Car points
leader. “It was really revving at the finish line. That is the best run
of the year for us so far this year. The motor seemed happy all the way
to the finish line.”

This was Hight’s fourth No. 1 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
and it was an impressive rebound for the championship caliber team
coming on the heels of a DNQ two weeks ago in Houston. Hight and crew
chief Jimmy Prock spent a full day testing a new clutch set-up and they
saw the reward for their hard work today in the desert.

Doug Kalitta, Taylor Barton, Branden
Giannini, Jonathan Mawhinney, Justin Johnson and Larry Dittman shared
the victory spotlight at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on
Saturday night.

The Ohio-based Mopar driver is
not only an excellent shoe, he’s also a respected and sought-after
engine builder.  This year Morgan-built Hemis are powering the likes
of  Vinnie Deceglie, Max Naylor, Johnny Gray and Phoenix winner V. Gaines
and, of course, his own car.  The thing is, though, all of Morgan’s
customers have been competitive from time to time this year, with
Gaines having emerged with one big victory.  But the team leader has
been spending his Sundays on the sidelines, an ignominious DNQ every
time out.

Saturday is going to be interesting with the likes of John Force, Ron Capps and Jerry Toliver unqualified. (Marty Reger)

The
first of two pro qualifying sessions resulted in a fair significant
amount of grumbling from a number of tuners and drivers about the track
preparation – or lack thereof.  As one former champion put it after
noting that the Funny Car list had a best of 4.927 and it only took a
six second run to get in at that point, 

“There is no way there are 21 stupid crew chiefs out here.”  Mired at
the back of the field at that point were the likes of drivers like John
Force, Ron Capps, Scott Kalitta and Cruz Pedregon.

Piedmont Dragway put on a season-opener to
remember yesterday, as fans enjoyed action-packed racing and weather
fit for a king. After a single shake down session and two qualifying
rounds, the field was set for an eye-opening Big Dog event that many
won't soon forget.

As cars and drivers alike tried to shake off winter's ring rust, Todd
Tutterow found himself sitting at the top of the ladder, driving his
blown Willys to a 4.18 @ 175mph. Seven positions south sat Darrin Hoyle
on the bump, making the show in his first Big Dog start. After a
brilliant career in ORSCA Limited Street, Hoyle drove his ex-Rickie
Smith Pro Stock Cobalt to a 4.30 @ 170mph.