{"id":5763,"date":"2014-05-23T12:27:04","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T19:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=5763"},"modified":"2014-05-23T12:27:46","modified_gmt":"2014-05-23T19:27:46","slug":"anderson-shielding-his-chances-in-making-nhra-countdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/anderson-shielding-his-chances-in-making-nhra-countdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Anderson Shielding His Chances in Making NHRA Countdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Greg<\/a><\/p>\n

Movie and comic book superheroes often have a shield for protection. Greg Anderson may be a drag racing superhero, and he might be using his own shield to conquer the series.<\/p>\n

Anderson\u2019s return to the cockpit in 2014 has been anything but easy for the 53-year Minnesota native.\u00a0 After learning that he needed heart surgery during the winter break, his world was turned upside down. Going through recovery fostered a new outlook on life in Anderson.<\/p>\n

Post-surgery, Anderson lost a great deal of muscle mass in his chest. The thought of making run after run on the track made it clear that he would need to protect that vulnerable area during a race. He contacted Simpson with an idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt came to me a month after getting out of the hospital when I realized how skinny I was probably going to be when I came back to driving a race car,\u201d said the four-time national Pro Stock champion.\u00a0 \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to have a lot of muscle build up and basically have my chest bones and my pacemaker protruding. \u00a0I thought that\u2019s not going to feel very nice against the seat belts.\u00a0 So I had to make a protector over my chest, so the belts won\u2019t be pulling directly on the pacemaker or my chest bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to see the boys at Simpson and they said they could make a mold of my chest. \u00a0We took the expanding seat material that we use to make our seat inserts and I laid down on some of that and made a mold of my chest.\u00a0 From that, they took a piece of carbon off of that mold and made the shape to fit…We have the exact shape of my chest and fitted it with a little foam, so that now when I cinch down on my seatbelts, I don\u2019t feel anything.\u00a0 It disperses the load everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great idea and now looking at it going forward, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever race without it… it feels better and I don\u2019t feel the seat belts rubbing on me.\u00a0 Everybody that I\u2019ve talked to that\u2019s been in any kind of wreck before, the first complaint they have is that the seats belts gave terrible bruising.\u00a0 This will definitely stop that.\u00a0 Obviously, if you were to stretch far enough in the seat belts to hit the steering wheel it would help with that.\u00a0 There are a lot of things it can help.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it, when you sitting in a race car, your body is not moving any so it doesn\u2019t restrict you on doing anything.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a problem at all.\u00a0 It was definitely be a benefit if you had a wreck.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s probably going to take me six months up to a year to build enough muscle back to where everything is not sticking out.\u00a0 I\u2019m stuck using it for at least the year, but honestly now, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever race without it.\u00a0 I know how it feels against the seat belts and remember what it used to feel like and you just have that thin little area centered on your chest that pulls on your chest.\u00a0 That\u2019s probably not a good thing when you get in a wreck.\u00a0 In the future everyone should be looking into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rigors of a full-time NHRA drag racing schedule can take its toll on the driver\u2019s body and the only way to get Anderson back in racing shape was to get behind the wheel and starting making launches.\u00a0 He did so at the adjacent Mooresville Dragway near their race shop, making over 60 short passes to get that feel back in his driving<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know until I got to Houston what it was going to be like pulling a parachute.\u00a0 That way I would really feel the load on my chest.\u00a0 When I got to Houston and made that first run, I couldn\u2019t even tell I pulled the parachutes.\u00a0 There was no load at all transferred to the chest.\u00a0 It was a win-win deal.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great idea.\u00a0 Now going forward, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever do without it for all those reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, it\u2019s more exciting to stop these cars than it is to start them.\u00a0 At least when you leave the starting line all the Gs are going against the back of the seat, which is a padded insert.\u00a0 But we have nothing for the parachute which is as many Gs at the finish line.\u00a0 It\u2019s 3Gs at the starting line and 3 negative Gs when you pull the parachute.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ken Black racing team selected Sweden\u2019s Jimmy Alund to replace Anderson while he recovered back home, but when the NHRA made its Carolina swing for the spring 4-Wide Nationals, he couldn\u2019t resist being there.<\/p>\n

Rooting for his Summit Racing team made up of two-time champion Jason Line, along with Alund, Anderson found himself in the unusual place of outside the car at a racetrack and witnessed firsthand Alund\u2019s lone NHRA National win in Anderson\u2019s ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was as proud as I could be and also sitting back thinking \u2018You know, that\u2019s my race car,\u2019\u201d grinned Anderson.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s supposed to be me winning those races.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t won in a year and a half now and I need to win badly.\u00a0 I feel great for Jimmy and I\u2019m so proud that we picked him to fill the seat because he did a fantastic job.\u00a0 To see him win that race; it just made the story great.\u00a0 That just made me desire even more to get back in the seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to come up with a good story for the doctor and convince him I was ready.\u00a0 They just want you to go home and sit on the couch for three or four months to make sure you\u2019re 100 per cent sure you\u2019re healed.\u00a0 I guess \u00a0as race car drivers we\u2019re a little bit different.\u00a0 We can withstand a little bit of pain and believe we heal quicker than most.\u00a0 Whether it\u2019s true or not we at least have that belief and we think we can get back in the game quicker.\u00a0 I just had to prove it to him.\u00a0 Of course, I didn\u2019t want to risk anything to turn it around and bite me and I sure as hell didn\u2019t want to do the procedure over again.\u00a0 That would have been tough.\u00a0 I wanted to make sure everything was right and that\u2019s where the chest protector came in to make sure I didn\u2019t take a backward step and have to go back to the hospital.\u00a0 Everything is perfect, everything is fine.\u00a0 I have no more excuses, the sympathy period is over.\u00a0 That thing protects me.\u00a0 I have no complaints at all and don\u2019t feel any pain of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the Charlotte race, Anderson could only participate through the NHRA Audiocast and ESPN3.\u00a0 The hardest part of having to sit back was not knowing what to do since all he\u2019s ever done is drag race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was terrible.\u00a0 It was absolutely terrible,\u2019 sighed Anderson, a 74 time tour winner.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve never missed a drag race since I\u2019ve been drag racing whether it was as a crew member, crew chief, or as a driver, so it was horrible.\u00a0 I guess I don\u2019t make a very good spectator because sitting on that couch watching, well, it was miserable.\u00a0 You\u2019re so out of touch.\u00a0 Then the Internet would go out and then come in and you\u2019re throwing stuff at the TV.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want to be on the phone constantly bugging the guys.\u00a0 They are trying to do their job.\u00a0 The bottom line is they did a great job in my absence.\u00a0 They might have not missed me at all, but I missed the hell out of not being there.”<\/p>\n

Next on Anderson\u2019s agenda is making it into the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship. Missing the first five events of the season has him in the perilous situation of having to be aggressive with only 12 races to go. Time is a factor.<\/p>\n

Last weekend in Atlanta at his sponsor\u2019s Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals, Anderson proved he\u2019s up to the task, making it to the final round before bowing out again Jeg Coughlin in a close Pro Stock race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to hustle, there\u2019s no question,\u201d said Anderson. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve got to go out and win races.\u00a0 I can\u2019t go out and just place or win a round here or there.\u00a0 The way the competition it is this year, the top 10 cars are race winning cars right to the No. 10 spot, so I know I have to go out and win races.\u00a0 It seems like forever for me.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be two years at Englishtown by that time if I don\u2019t win before then.\u00a0 That\u2019s a tremendous amount of time for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to turn it around and make it happen and Jimmy obviously proved the car can win.\u00a0 So, it\u2019s up to me now and I have no excuses.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to start winning and unless I win, I won\u2019t be in the Countdown.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not complaining about that.\u00a0 That\u2019s the way it should be.\u00a0 If you\u2019re going to be in that Countdown, you better be able to win races.\u00a0 No sense qualifying for that, if you\u2019re not qualified to win a race.\u00a0 I need to win some races to get in it.\u00a0 Then I think I\u2019ll be ready to go for the gold at the end of the season.”<\/p>\n

\"14GregAndersonAction<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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