In this guest blog post, Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson shares his point of view on racing at Summit Racing’s home track, the K&N Horsepower challenge, and his new Pro Stock Camaro.

This weekend, while many of you will hopefully enjoy an extended July 4th holiday, our Summit Racing team will be heading to Norwalk, OH for one of our biggest races of the 2012 NHRA Drag Racing season, the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.    

Of course, we will be facing another tough Pro Stock field hungry to take a shot at us, but that’s just the start of it. For the third time this season, we will competing in our sponsor’s event, with the added twist that the racetrack, which also bears the familiar Summit Racing name, is located about an hour away from the corporate headquarters in Tallmadge. That means we will have plenty of company in the form of all the Summit Racing employees who will come out to cheer us on.

Finally, in addition to the demands of a “normal” race weekend, on Saturday we’ll have the K&N Horsepower Challenge, where the top seven qualifying drivers from the last year, as well as one racer selected by a fan vote race in a three-round shootout for $50,000. Now, this may sound like the ultimate pressure cooker, but personally I consider it one of the most fun weekends of the year, and one I always look forward to.

For example, take the Horsepower Challenge. For that one day, we go back to racing the way it ought to be–for the sheer fun of it. I don’t have to worry about how many points I may or may not lose–I just get to go out and race, doing what I can to cross the finish line first without worrying about the consequences.

Obviously it’s a race that suits me well, as I’ve won it four times, including the last two years and been the runner-up for three. But on top of the money, which is always nice, I get a real kick out of seeing the expression on the face of the fan who has just won a truck or motorcycle because of my winning the event–that alone is worth the price of admission.

On Sunday, it will be back to the real world, doing what we can to win the race.  After all, there’s nothing better than getting that trophy at the top end of the track from the people who make this all possible. 

We’re looking forward to showing off our new Summit Racing Camaros to the people who came up with the design. We’ve had them for a couple of races and not only does everybody love the new look, but these Chevys have already shown glimpses of their potential with a win and a runner-up finish in their first three races. We may still be very early in the learning process, but I believe both Jason’s and my cars will be in contention this weekend, which is all we can ask, and in the long run, they are going to be great.

Greg Anderson and Jason Line strategize at Englishtown earlier this year.

It’s also going to be a busy weekend away from the track, as both Jason and I will have plenty of other activities.  Today, for example, I have a media tour in Cleveland, while at the same time Jason will have a media luncheon in Norwalk. After that, we’ll have the Summit Racing customer race and a couple functions for K&N to take care of, not to mention getting our cars ready to race.

So even though our plate will most certainly be full, it still promises to be a fun weekend. After all, we’ll get to see all our friends from Summit Racing, show off our new race cars, race for fun and 50 grand on Saturday, and go after our fifth win of the season in front of the people who make it all possible. 

Oh, did I happen to mention that we will also have the pleasure of (team owners) Ken and Judy Black’s company with us in Norwalk? Their last race was Englishtown, and we all know what happened there. So, as I said, we may have a lot on the line, but the possibility for reward puts it right up this KB Racing team’s alley, which to me translates into a lot of fun, and we’re hoping to share that by putting smiles on lot of people’s faces.