NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Greg Anderson earned his third win of the season at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals, punching his way back into the Pro Stock world championship hunt. He will need a similar performance at the Dodge NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil to remain competitive as he chases his first title since 2010. 

He got off to a fine start on Friday, running in the top two in Pro Stock in the first qualifying session. Anderson failed to pick up in the second session and stayed in the top five, though his performance was typical when compared to the rest of the field. The former champion was surprised, much like others in the category, that improvements weren't made in the second session but with similar weather on the horizon for Saturday qualifying he sensed opportunity. 

Read more: Greg Anderson continues to pursue perfection in Pro Stock

"We lost a little bit of air and I think we needed to make corrections for that, but it just comes down to the race track, which has been great," said Anderson. "I'll tell you what we were really quick to the 60-foot, quicker than we've ever been here, so it's great conditions for racing."

The first 60 feet have been a problem for Anderson all season, but the team found something in Dallas that spurred the veteran racer to victory. The K.B. Racing team didn't change anything on the Summit Racing Chevy Camaro between events -- that paid off. Anderson covered the first 60 feet in .971-second, one of the best marks of the session. 

He was behind a couple of his teammates (Bo Butner and Deric Kramer) but it remained a huge improvement on his season average of .983. It will remain up to Anderson to cut competitive lights on Sunday, but the Camaro is running as well as it has all season. 

"When we pull up in the car the first time after Dallas I'm a little nervous sitting in the car because you're hoping we've actually improved and we didn't just find improvement at that one track," said Anderson. "They call me Mr. Negative around here sometimes, but I like to think I'm just a realist." 

It appears K.B. Racing has found real improvement on the red Summit Chevy. Now, there are two races to put it to good use.