The air temperature was 98 degrees, the track temperature 136 degrees Saturday at the Menards NHRA Nationals at Topeka. 

That’s about what the conditions were all weekend at Seattle for the previous race two weeks ago, when Greg Anderson was top qualifier in the Pro Stock class. 

“They never scheduled a race on the sun before. And here we are, racing on the sun, it feels like. It’s incredibly hot out here,” Anderson said Saturday after repeating his No. 1 qualifier feat. “You know what, though? My Hendrick Chevy wants to race on the sun. I’m not afraid of the heat with that car I’ve got. It’s obviously liking these conditions. We need to make some hay when you’re in conditions that the race car likes.” 

He drove the HendrickCars.com Camaro to his career 120th No. 1 start with a 6.623-second blast at 205.44 mph on Heartland Motorsports Park’s quarter-mile that held up from Friday’s opening session. And that’s in a field in which the first and 13th starters are separated by just .068 of a second in performance.

Anderson, who’s quest for his milestone 100th victory will start with a bye run in Sunday’s first round of eliminations, is making up for lost time. 

“We were behind the eight-ball for a lot of races, and we were down on performance, compared to the competition,” he said. “They had a wonderful winter, and they made some big gains. It stunned us when we came t Pomona [to open the season with the Winternationals]. And as they year’s gone on, they’ve gained even more. 

“We’d been getting our doors blown off, and that’s not fun. So we’ve been working awful hard to make our product better. We stumbled onto a few things, and we’ve been able to improve a little bit more and a little bit more. We’ve made some gains. Over the last three races, we’ve picked up the pace – and thank God. If we had waited any longer, the season would have been a complete wash. Now I think it’s salvageable. So now we’re a legitimate player again,” Anderson said. 

“The competition is off to a good start, and they’ve owned the season so far. We’re hoping to own the second half,” he said. “Season’s not a total loss. We’ve got a chance to win big.” 

Anderson came into this Menards Nationals presented by PetArmor as the No. 4-ranked Pro Stock driver, 402 points behind leader Erica Enders. And though he never has been on board with the parameters of the Countdown, he is learning that he can use the sanctioning body’s manipulation of the points (the resetting of the points to heighten the drama of the chase) to his advantage this season. 

Looking ahead to the Countdown to the Championship, Anderson said, “I’ve voiced my opinion on the playoff scenario before. I’m not a huge fan of the way it works. But this year it’s going to benefit me. It’s going to give me a shot again. I’m not out of it now. So I guess you’ve got to look at it both ways. What goes around comes around, I guess. So this time it’s my turn to get a break.”   

As for that elusive 100th victory, Anderson said, “I have fond memories at most every racetrack. I’ve been able to win at pretty much every racetrack we’ve been. I’m not sure I could pick my favorite place to win. Every one’s got special meaning to it. I grew up in the Midwest (Minnesota), so this is a lot like racing at home. It would be a great place for it to happen. I’d certainly like to get it done and stop worrying about it.”

The run that cemented his second consecutive No. 1 start wasn’t one of his more thrilling ones, Anderson said Friday. 

“I had no earthly idea it was that quick a run,” he said. "It didn’t seem very smooth. It wasn’t exactly what I would consider a smooth run. But sometimes it’s like riding the toughest bull out there – when you get off it, you know you kicked its ass.” 

He said he “would feel a whole lot worse if I didn’t do it [take the No. 1 spot] and we had to try and do it [Saturday] in those conditions.” He said if anybody could have topped his Friday effort, “they [would] have absolutely earned it and deserve it.” 

The blistering heat had its advantages, he figured: “All three days are similar, weather-wise, so you have three qualifying runs to set you up for race day. That’s the good news. If the drivers can hang in there by Sunday and not wilt, we’ll be fine. 

“It's absolutely crazy. But my hat’s off to this facility. The racetrack has held up fantastic, and nobody's complaining about it. Nobody's having trouble with the racetrack. It's just brutal on the drivers, mainly. The race cars seem to be, as a class, pretty damn heavy, making quality runs, and they're laughing at the heat. It's the drivers that are wilting like bad flowers.” 

Asked if the air conditioning inside his Camaro is helping, Anderson joked, “That might be the secret. We turned it off the last couple of weeks. We added a little bit more power to the race car, and that's helping on the racetrack. And they said, you know what? You're too soft. We’re going to have to turn your air off.’” 

Eliminations Sunday will see Anderson advance on a bye run on the 15-car grid, then take on the winner of the Bo Butner-Matt Hartford Nos. 8-9 match-up.