“ Ever since 2001, I turned in that crew chief or mechanic’ s wrench, and I became an engine builder,” Anderson says.“ Now it’ s been 20-some years and I’ ve learned a ton and I’ ve really enjoyed it. It’ s been two different careers, one as a car guy and the next as an engine guy, and I don’ t know which one I like better.”
The pursuit of even miniscule gains in horsepower is never-ending for Anderson and his colleagues at KB Titan Racing, which has grown and evolved just like Anderson has. It started as a single-car team with Anderson as the driver and expanded to a two-car program in 2004 with Line earning Rookie of the Year honors
and a second-place finish to Anderson. The team later started leasing engines and complete Pro Stock operations to other drivers. Line retired from driving at the end of the 2020 season and gradually stepped away from the team to pursue his own business. A new chapter for KB Racing began when KB merged with Titan Racing Engines to form KB Titan Racing with partners Eric Latino and Jim Whiteley.
KB Titan is now home to five house cars and two engine leasing customers. That roster includes Anderson, Latino, 2024 championship runner-up Dallas Glenn, 2023 U. S. Nationals
As one of the most accomplished drivers in NHRA history, Anderson has developed a fan base spanning generations.
winner Matt Hartford, five-time winner Deric Kramer, and former Pro Stock Motorcycle rider turned recent first-time Pro Stock winner Cory Reed. The lineup also includes two rookies: Matt Latino, Eric’ s son, as well as Cody Coughlin, who came to Pro Stock after success in the circle track world.
At this point in the season, KB Titan drivers occupy nearly all of the top 10 spots in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Pro Stock points standings. Anderson and Glenn met up in the final rounds of the first three races of the 2025 season, with Glenn winning the season opener in Gainesville and Anderson taking backto-back wins at Phoenix and Pomona. Glenn then won both Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas and Charlotte, while Anderson finished third and second in those final quads, respectively. Anderson added back-to-back victories at Epping( over rival Erica Enders) and Bristol( over Glenn), then Reed scored his first career Pro Stock win at Norwalk with Glenn in the other lane.
That performance is Anderson’ s reward for the hours he puts in at the shop between races. He’ s there from 7:30 or 8 in the morning to around 7 p. m. six days a week. And that’ s not counting all the hours he spends thinking about racing while he’ s away from the shop. It’ s an effort bordering on obsessive, but it works.
“ It’ s a sport and a class where you can control your own destiny,” Anderson explains.“ If you don’ t put that effort in, you’ re probably not going to get much back out of it. If you do put a heck of an effort in, you’ ve got a good chance of getting more out of it. I look at that as sort of being able to control your own destiny. If you find five horses this week, you’ re going to make your chances to win next week a heck of a lot better. The more you can work at it and the more effort you can put in, usually the luckier you get, as they say.”
Around 50 percent of Anderson’ s time at the shop is spent on the engine dyno. He took over the dyno operator role from Line when he stepped away. Anderson also machines a lot of the parts that go into the engines and handles most of the piston work.
“ It’ s a very busy role, but I love every bit of it,” Anderson says.“ But pretty much everybody that works here in the KB Titan engine shop can do anything from top to bottom of the engine. They’ re not necessarily the specialist that they can only do this part or that part. There’ s three of us here that can run the dyno. There’ s five of us here that can build an engine from oil pan to fuel injection system.”
It’ s a group that wears many hats, and Anderson is the prime example of that. At times he’ s a team leader tasked with making the numbers make sense. Other times he’ s a world-championship race car driver signing autographs for fans at the ropes. He’ s also a teammate, a mentor, and a rival. But of all the hats Anderson wears in his role in the sport, it’ s the engine builder hat that brings out something special in him.
“ In Pro Stock drag racing, the engine is king, and that’ s what I love about it,” Anderson says.“ There’ s certainly three main ingredients that go into trying to win a race with these race cars. The driver has to do a great job, the car has to be perfect, and the engine has to run real good, but probably still the most important part of those three is the engine. That’ s why I love Pro Stock.”
Anderson, now one of the most accomplished drivers not just in Pro Stock, but in the history of the sport, became just the second driver in NHRA history to hit 100 national event wins when he won the 2022 U. S. Nationals and most recently hit the 1,000-round mark on his way to winning the Thunder Valley Nationals this summer.
In this candid conversation, the Anderson reflects on those accomplishments, the state of Pro Stock, and the passion that still drives him after decades in the sport.
You’ re only the second driver to hit 1,000 round wins behind John Force, who did it in 2008. How does that achievement represent your career in the sport?
Well, I guess it tells you I must be getting old to be around that long to do that( laughs). I never
96 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 196