 |
    |
 |
|
|
The State of the Union
|
 |
|
Greg Anderson speaks his mind on his new rule and what's going on in NHRA Pro Stock
|
By Bobby Bennett, Jr. |
Depending of which side of the tracks you are on in racing will determine how you view Greg Anderson. If you're a fan of NHRA Pro Stock, you might be of the opinion that the Charlotte, NC-based driver might be experiencing the best season since Bob Glidden won all but one national event in 1979. If you line up alongside of Anderson, you might tend to subscribe to the theory that something lies beneath the hood of his machine that isn't readily available to you or your cronies. Regardless of what opinion the defending NHRA POWERade Pro Stock World Champion elicits, the bottom line is that he is successful at what he does. He is quick to point out that his success is not limited to one single thing. It is lots of little things working together. We caught up with Anderson just one race prior to the implementation of new rules that some suggest are aimed at slowing him down. Anderson contends the rules won't affect him one bit; yet the rumors still persist. We put Anderson on our hot seat and asked him the tough questions. He didn't flinch one bit. CP - You just can't seem to get people to stop talking about you these days, huh? GA - You know what they say - if they're not talking about you then you must not being doing any good. We must be doing okay if they're still talking about us.
GA - I don't know how many members of that club there might be, but I don't think that I'm the first. It's kind of silly and kind of crazy, I guess. I guess I'm supposed to be flattered. I guess maybe it's a sincere form of flattery. If they are trying to change the rules because you are doing so well, that must mean that you're doing something special. Maybe it should make us feel good deep down inside. CP – So will this new rule outlawing the use of exotic metals and placing a minimum weight on internal parts slow you down? GA - The rule is not going to hinder us at all. It's not going to affect the way we race at all. I think most of the guys that are complaining are starting to come to grips with that. There have been four or five rules changes in the last 12 months. Not a one of them has affected us and I can't imagine any others affecting us at all. Everything we do here is on the up and up. We aren't trying to stretch the rules or anything. It's just the combination of a lot of hard work and a lot of smart guys applying their knowledge. There's no smoking gun or no trick of the week. There's not one single thing that is making me quicker than any one. It's a 100 different things coming together that is making us what we are. I just think we address all of the rule changes better than the rest of the competition. CP - You've always suggested that your domination has made the class better. Do you still feel the same?
CP - Are you taking credit for the current level of advancement in the class? GA - They might not have done it if I hadn't put the pressure on them. They would have been complacent with what they had. It opened their eyes to see that there were a lot more gains to be made in this stuff and it got them to looking in places they hadn't normally looked at. It's the car, the trans, the aero package; it's everything from front to rear and in between. It takes more than a great engine. I couldn't do what I'm doing if it weren't for the rest of the package. The biggest change for the Grumpy cars in the last few is that they have their cars working better. I ought to take a little bit of credit. I pushed the class hard and people started whining and crying, but the bottom line is that they went home and worked. We proved that it could be done and that's why right now I'm hearing a lot less whining and crying. They've all come to grips with the idea that maybe I am just working hard. I've told it like it was from the start and I've invited every tech guy to come look at my stuff that wants to. They've seen everything and they know that nothing fishy is going on. The NHRA has claimed they cannot calm everyone down unless they make a hard and stern rule. The rule is not to slow the class down. It is to head off any unnecessary expenditure that might make it even more costly to run the class. When the time comes that a person can have the ridiculous budget that enables them to run with those kinds of parts, that ability has been taken away. It's preventative. It's not trying to eliminate someone; it is trying to stop something before it happens. The NHRA will tell you that they've checked these motors and there's nothing like that out here now…regardless of the rumors, there's nothing like that out here. And, they don't want it out here either.
CP - So you're in favor of keeping the costs down in these race engines?
CP - The speculation is that we will see if you were indeed running the exotic metals once the tour rolls into Denver… GA - I guess it will become clear to some, but the NHRA officials already know the truth. They took everything apart and weighed it umpteen times. They already know and the rule is the easiest way to prove it to the masses and the rest of the racers. There will be no change in our performance and as I have said before…I have nothing to hide. The NHRA will tell you that nothing like that is out here.
CP - I noticed in your earlier list of drivers that have begun to work harder that you omitted the Johnsons…was that an oversight?
CP - Who do you think was behind the rule change? GA - I'm sure that in the beginning the racers were behind it. Once the NHRA determined that the rules were related to a cost issue, they were all for it. I'm certainly not going to name names, but it's pretty obvious. All you have to do is ask around the pits. There were several racers that wanted it. They didn't like the way we were winning all the races and I can't blame them for feeling that way. I just don't like the way they went about getting it done. We've now proven it to them that it is nothing more than hard work. Looking in the rearview mirror, they were absolutely wrong in accusing me like they did. It started with the racers. They brought it to the NHRA. The NHRA pointed out that they would tear apart everyone's motors and make a decision from there. The NHRA has already determined that they don't want that stuff in here anyhow.
GA - No one likes to get beat week in and week out. I understand that. But some people need to have a little bit of pride in what they are doing. It's not always someone doing something below the belt. Some people actually work hard honestly and step ahead. That's the beauty of Pro Stock. It always lasts until someone figures out what the other person is doing. Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, Jim Yates and the Wayne County Speed Shop all had their day. The funny thing is that I don't recall any of those guys getting handed a rule change. What makes it even better is that I'm not doing anything that they are accusing me of. If it looks like they are changing the rule because of me. Well, they are and then they aren't. The NHRA figures this is the best way to quiet things down. CP - Did the NHRA ever ask you to slow down as it was alleged? GA - No…They (NHRA officials) were saying ‘You're winning a lot and the racers are alleging that you have those exotic metals and maybe its just not good for one guy to be winning the races all the time.' I told them, ‘I've proven to you that I don't have this stuff. You've checked my stuff.' They then said, ‘Well you could slow down.' That was just their comment to me if I didn't want to hear the whining and crying that was what I could do. They let me know that was an option. But, no, I was not told directly to slow down. I told them that I thought because someone was dominating the class that it was not a bad thing. After years of Bob Glidden and John Force, it didn't hurt their classes. I think the drag racing fans are starved for heroes.
GA - We were on a great course with the tire we had last year. I still am not a big proponent of that new tire and I have said it from the start. It's tougher on parts and breaks a lot more driveline parts than the old tire used to. The cars are slower and we would absolutely be quicker that we are now if that rule change hadn't been put on us. I want to make these cars faster and not slow them down. I still think we have an identity crisis with the way we run versus the fuel cars. We need to be faster. That's why I was against it. And, the fact that it cost a lot of people a lot of money because it was thrust on us at the last minute is something that still bothers me. They could have brought it in gradually instead of the way they did it. It wasn't tested and proven at the time. Should it have come in at sometime or another? Yes, because it is probably safer. But, not in the manner that it was thrust upon us. I never thought it would take away my performance edge, but mark my word, there's going to be a time this season when someone will lose a final round on breakage.
|
CP - How does it feel to be one of the lucky drivers that have rule changes named after them? 
GA - What we are doing has made a lot of the guys in this class evaluate their operations a lot differently. It has proven to them that it can be done. A lot of them have gone back home and done their homework. Look at Larry Morgan, Steve Johns, David Connolly and the Grumpy [Jenkins] cars. They are way ahead of where they were three months ago. It's not necessarily a case of us falling off - they have made gains. I've gained, too. But, it's not as much as they have in the last two or three months. 
GA - I'm with them on that. I'm all for keeping the costs down in the class. Did they go too far in putting the weights on individual parts? I think so. There's no need to be that technical. But, the NHRA says they know no other way to police it. If someone has parts made out of the exotic metals, that's the simplest way to determine it. I guess I see I see their side of it, but there should have been some way that the racers could take their aluminum parts and lighten them up. They didn't give anyone room in that area. The one thing the NHRA needs to be careful of is slowing the creativity and progression of the class. We need these cars to keep getting quicker. The quicker they are, the more excited the fans can get. Do we want rules like NASCAR has made where no one can make any gains? You have to be careful…especially in Pro Stock. This is supposed to be somewhat of an unlimited class. Let the guys who are supposed to be the experts and gurus spread their wings. Let them follow up on their ideas. I just don't want them to hand down rule after rule until the class is no fun and becomes boring. We don't need it preventing new talent from coming into the class. The car counts are down from what they used to be. People don't like to see rules being put on everything in the class. 
GA - It probably was and they are gaining too. Kurt probably has picked up his level like Larry Morgan has or Bruce Allen. He's probably made the same gains that I have since the start of the year. The Jenkins cars have made bigger gains than anyone. That's what I was trying to say. As for Warren , the power is there - he's just fighting his car. I don't know what the deal is but his car is not making repeatable runs. Kurt is running better than he did at the start of the year but Warren is not. Obviously something is wrong there. I didn't mean to leave them out of the mix. Warren is just struggling right now. I don't know it is a change of cars that will fix it or a return to the basics. My biggest concern has become the Connolly and Johns cars. My program has dipped a little bit in the past few races, but we are addressing that problem now. We haven't figured where the second-half of the runs have gone. I expect to find it in the next few races. We'll be hoping that the Grumpy cars don't continue to make gains in the same fashion they have in the last few months. The rate they have made gains is faster than I have ever done it. I made small moves over the last few years, but they are making a huge one. If we don't get back on our game like we used to be, we'll be sucking exhaust. 
CP - Jealousy breeds discontent? 
CP - When the rule for the beadlock wheels were handed down, you portrayed all the doom and gloom of a person that would no longer be competitive… 