It ’ s not so much a feud , as both parties have a seemingly healthy respect for each other , but there ’ s definitely a fierce level of competition between the two team . That was evident this year , much like it has been in recent seasons .

Spurred by Erica Enders ’ back-to-back world championships in 2019 and 2020 , KB Racing was motivated to stop that string in 2021 .

Greg Anderson was the immediate beneficiary , as the veteran had a scorching start to the year . He won two of the first three races , qualified No . 1 at seemingly every turn and was a step ahead of everyone with Elite backing to open the year .

Enders , though , responded with an electric performance in Norwalk , beating Anderson on a holeshot in the final round , while Stanfield tripped up Anderson in the final round in Pomona to close out the Western swing .

The back-and-forth was enthralling throughout , including Enders topping Anderson in the semifinals at Indy en route to her second U . S . Nationals event title . Anderson had the final say in the playoffs , entering as the top seed and winning three of the final six races – becoming the all-time wins leader in Pro Stock history in the process – but we got fireworks along the way .

Anderson ’ s win in Dallas , where he set the Pro Stock wins record , meant the gloves were off in Las Vegas . That meant Elite doing their best to stack the deck against Anderson , a trick KB used against Enders – much to the Elite Motorsports ’ team chagrin – in 2019 .

That didn ’ t work against Enders in 2019 , as she beat Anderson in Pomona in the opening round at the World Finals , and ultimately didn ’ t work against Anderson in 2021 , though he did fall to Troy Coughlin Jr . on a holeshot in the opening round at Vegas .

MATT SMITH RACING VS . VANCE & HINES , JOHN FORCE VS . MATT HAGAN , JIM HALSEY VS . TOMMY FRANKLIN , AND JUSTIN SWANSTROM VS . EVERYONE BUT TEAM X

Enders went to the finals at that race when Coughlin , ahem , let up in his semifinal matchup with her , setting the stage for Pomona once again . It was Anderson vs . Enders yet again with plenty on the line , and this time Anderson took it , winning in the semifinals against her to clinch the championship .

It gave KB the title this year , another reason why this rivalry has been so wonderful : both teams have had success in recent years . It hasn ’ t been one team dominating and dealing one blow after another to the other team . Both have doled out heavyweight shots , which , of course , is the magic behind any great rivalry .

Of course , this rivalry goes beyond Greg vs . Erica as well . There ’ s drivers like Matt Hartford and Bo Butner who have switched camps along the way , as well as each team having their own conglomerate of young rising stars . On the KB side , there ’ s NHRA Rookie of the Year Dallas Glenn and Kyle Koretsky , while the Elite camp counters with Stanfield , who has a pair of Factory Stock world titles and won three races in 2021 , and the aforementioned Coughlin .

That indicates this rivalry isn ’ t slowing down anytime soon and we ’ re eager to see the counterpunches that will take place in 2022 as both team look to make a statement .

Will Greg get his 100th win and a sixth world title , sending him past Jeg Coughlin Jr .? Does Enders respond with a fifth world title to tie Anderson ? Or does one of the young guns take the world title and add another juicy subplot in this mix ? Whatever happens next in this rivalry thrill ride , we can ’ t wait to see it unfold . – JOSH HACHAT DI

PHOTO : RICK BELDEN

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