It’s about the moment that NHRA Pro Stock veteran Greg Anderson seems to be down for the count that he roars back to life and into the winner’s circle. No matter how many times the Pro Stock field watches the movie, the ending still seems to be the same.
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After back-to-back first-round losses threatened to derail his momentum, Anderson answered with the kind of performance that has defined one of the greatest careers in NHRA history. His victory Sunday at Pacific Raceways delivered his third win of the 2026 season, the 115th national event victory of his career and returned him to the Pro Stock points lead with only two races remaining before the Countdown to the Championship.
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Anderson claimed his fourth Seattle victory when Greg Stanfield left .008-second too soon in the final round, handing the race to the six-time world champion. Anderson still completed the run with a 6.508-second pass at 211.00 mph in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, capping a weekend that looked far different from the previous two races.
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The victory restored confidence to Anderson who had lost in back-to-back first round races.Â
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“I certainly didn’t have a lot of confidence when I came here today,” Anderson admitted. “We ran a lot better this weekend. My car was definitely better. But I could see, as everybody could see, Dallas Glenn had the car to beat.”
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“And the way he drives that race car, I was about going to pencil him in for final round and a win. So to get by Dallas and everybody else out here, Greg Stanfield, who’s coming… He’s on a roll.”
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The path to victory was anything but easy.
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After qualifying second, Anderson defeated Stephen Bell and Matt Latino before receiving a break in the semifinals when longtime rival Erica Enders failed to complete her run. Another stroke of fortune came in the final when Stanfield fouled away the race before Anderson crossed the finish line.
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Anderson never tried to hide how much luck factored into Sunday’s victory.
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“You can’t win these things without luck,” Anderson said. “I’ve certainly won my share of races and you can probably go back at every one and there’s going to be a few that stand out where you just say, ‘You know what? I had the best car and I did the best job and probably deserved to win.’ But that’s not the majority of them.”
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“You’ve got to have luck to win and you got to take them any way you can get them. And a month from now, nobody will look at the box score, how it happened. They just know who won. So you’ve got to find a way to win. That’s all it’s all about.”
While Anderson capitalized on the opportunities presented to him, Stanfield’s weekend was nearly as impressive.
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Fresh off his Sonoma victory one week earlier, Stanfield reached his 30th career Pro Stock final by defeating his son Aaron Stanfield, Cody Anderson and defending Seattle winner Dallas Glenn. His final-round red-light denied him consecutive victories but continued one of the strongest stretches of his season.
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The biggest casualty of Anderson’s resurgence was teammate Dallas Glenn.
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Glenn entered Seattle with the championship lead and appeared to have the quickest car throughout qualifying and eliminations before Stanfield stopped him in the semifinals. Anderson’s victory was enough to swing the standings, giving him an eight-point advantage over Glenn entering the final two regular-season events.
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The turnaround looked unlikely only hours earlier.
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“It’s a humbling sport. No doubt about that,” Anderson said. “It’s a tough sport, a hard class to win in. And you’ve just got to stay the course. You’ve just got to keep trying, keep digging.”
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“And you do a couple of races like that where you just feel, ‘Maybe I can’t quite cut this anymore.’ If that went on for another couple of races, you really seriously have to consider it. But this certainly snaps the streak and gives you a little positive feeling going forward the rest of the season.”
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Confidence has always been one of Anderson’s greatest weapons, but even he admitted it had been tested.
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He arrived in Seattle wondering whether his recent struggles represented a temporary stumble or something more concerning. By the end of the afternoon, those doubts had largely disappeared.
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“It took me probably a couple rounds today before I felt confident, before I felt good, like I could go up there and do a good job,” Anderson said. “You’ve just got to find a way to go rounds and get a lucky break here or there.”
The victory also highlighted the depth within KB Titan Racing.
During the two-race Western Swing, the organization lost three engines, forcing Anderson, Glenn and Matt Hartford to make changes. While none of the failures were catastrophic, the additional work tested the team’s preparation and inventory.
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“You have to lean on them or you’re not going to win,” Anderson said. “Every qualifying point, every qualifying position means something.”
“But I think that shows the world also we have some pretty good depth on the bench here at KB Titan and three engine changes and I’m not sure the crowd could notice a change. So pretty proud of that.”
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Seattle also served as a reminder that the championship race has already begun, even if the Countdown technically hasn’t.
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With Brainerd and Indianapolis remaining before the playoff reset, Anderson believes teams cannot afford to wait for the postseason to find speed or confidence.
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“Basically, the way I look at it, it’s almost the start of the countdown by the time we get to Brainerd and Indy,” Anderson said. “That’s really how it starts.”
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“You’ve got to go into those last couple of races before the countdown on high C. You’ve got to be on top of your game. So hopefully this was a turnaround weekend for us.”
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The numbers reinforce his thinking.
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Championships are rarely won by drivers who limp into the Countdown searching for answers. Anderson has spent decades proving that momentum entering the playoffs often becomes momentum inside them.
He also knows Glenn isn’t going away.
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“I bet, if I was a betting man, I was down the street betting on Dallas Glenn to win this weekend,” Anderson said. “I’m sorry, I just see it in my trailer. I see the confidence the guy has when he comes to a place like this.”
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“And you’ll see it again all through the playoffs. He’s going to be a hell of a handful.”
