INAUGURAL WORLD DOORSLAMMER NATIONALS
GREG ANDERSON ALL SMILES,
EVEN WITH RUNNER-UP FINISH
IT WASN’T SURPRISING to see Greg Anderson
in the final round of the Drag Illustrated
World Doorslammer Nationals. After all,
he’s a driver who has thrived in these specialty
races winning the K&N Horsepower Challenge
a record seven times.
He almost grabbed another monumental victory
in the $75,000-to-win Pro Stock portion of the
race, losing a razor-thin race to longtime rival Jeg
Coughlin Jr. in the finals. While there was initial
disappointment, Anderson could only smile with
the spotlight Pro Stock grabbed and thrived in at
Orlando Speed World Dragway.
“I had a blast with this race,” Anderson said.
“This reminds me of the K&N shootout, and I
love that race. This brings you back in time to
where it all started. (Team owner) Ken Black
started this team to go race and have fun, and
that’s what we did this week. I loved it, and my
hat is off to Drag Illustrated and [promotors]
Wes Buck and Richard Freeman. They all did a
great job, and it was just so good for Pro Stock.
I hope the fans enjoyed it as much as all of the
Pro Stock racers did.”
There was no question they did, and Anderson
had a smile on his face throughout the weekend.
That included when he was the top qualifier
after the first day with a jaw-dropping run
of 6.470 at 213.37. Anderson
qualified fourth and was a 6.40s
machine, staying in that range
during every run in eliminations,
including victories against Kyle
Koretsky, Shane Tucker and
longtime KB Racing teammate
Jason Line to reach the finals.
He went 6.485 at 213.81 in
his Summit Racing Equipment
Chevy Camaro in the final round,
as Coughlin edged him out with a 6.484 at 212.36.
It was another epic race between two of the
most legendary racers in drag racing history, also
giving the event the ultimate capper. A $75,000
victory would have made it perfect for Anderson,
but the four-time world champ still left
Orlando with a beaming smile
on his face.
“It was disappointing but I
had a lot of damn fun,” Anderson
said. “It was really cool and,
honestly, the first two races this
year I didn’t even make it down
the track in either one (in eliminations).
This was a heck of an
improvement and it was a great
week of racing. I’m happy.
“I love racing Jeggie and we’ve had so many
titanic battles every time we race. I respect the
hell out of him and it’s just been a lot of fun for
a lot of years. It was really a great weekend for
Pro Stock. I think that everybody that was down
here enjoyed it.” – JOSH HACHAT DI
NO NEW-CAR BLUES FOR
TODD ‘KING TUT’ TUTTEROW
WHEN TODD TUTTEROW pulled through the
Orlando staging lanes for his final-round
battle with Alex Laughlin, the man they call
“King Tut” appeared to be on his way to his fifth
consecutive win. While the World Doorslammer
Nationals was his first race of the 2020 season in
the U.S., Tutterow was coming off of four victories
in Qatar to sweep the Arabian Drag Racing
League Pro Mod championship.
It wasn’t meant to be, though, as Tutterow’s
roots-blown engine let go down track after leaving
the starting line three thousandths of a second
ahead of Laughlin. Laughlin recorded his quickest
pass of the day, a 5.671 at 251.53 mph, while
Tutterow slowed to a 6.362 at 146.21.
“It would’ve been nice to win five in a row with
two different cars,” says Tutterow, who debuted a
new 2020 Camaro from Jerry Bickel Race Cars.
“We came here to do a lot of testing and run this
race. It’s a big-money race and I’m glad everyone
chipped in and put this race on. I’d like to have
won it, but I didn’t. It is what it is.”
The final round was a fight between two of the
quickest, most consistent and most closely paired
cars on the property.
Laughlin qualified No. 3 with a career-best
5.66 at 251.77. Tutterow qualified No. 4 with his
5.684 at 253.04.
Tutterow had the upper hand through eliminations,
though. His AAP Camaro was a bracket
car, running 5.704, 5.709 and 5.709 in the first
three rounds to take out Jeff Jones, Chip King and
Justin Bond, respectively. Aside from a 5.825 in
the second round, Laughlin was
also consistent with his 5.717 in
E1 and a 5.704 in the semis.
“I figured he was going to go
.68 or .69 [in the final],” Tutterow
says. “I didn’t know he was going
to go .67. So I tried to do the same
thing and tried to beat him on the
tree. It overpowered the track a
little and it shook out there. When
it did that, it pulled the motor way
down when it shifted and leaned
the motor out. It backfired the supercharger,
but it’s all well.”
Tutterow knew he had to step
up from his consistent 5.70s for
the final. After all, $50,000 and
the inaugural World Doorslammer
Nationals Pro Mod event champion title
were on the line.
“I can’t just sit still,” Tutterow says. “I had to
do something to make it go faster.”
Despite the loss, Tutterow was just glad to be
a part of the historic race.
“Thanks to everybody for being here,” Tutterow
says. “Thanks to Wes [Buck] and Richard [Freeman]
for putting this race on. It’s been very, very
special.” – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
70 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 156