Anderson signed a multi-year partnership extension with iconic NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick and his HendrickCars. com brand in 2024.
My day-to-day is to get here as soon as I can every morning and work as long as I can on trying to find one more horsepower, two more horsepower.
to win that she does, that I do, and that wasn’ t the way it was years ago.
That’ s the reason I think it’ s tougher now, and obviously add on the extra years that I’ ve got going for me and the wisdom or whatever you want to call it, that’ s great, but I’ d sure click my fingers in a minute and go back to that young attitude and that ability to be able to go out there and cut. 00 lights and. 010 lights like it’ s nothing like these young kids can. I’ d give anything to go back to that. I don’ t necessarily have that in my playbook anymore. They tell me,“ You’ ve got to do it with experience and wisdom.” Well, what does that really mean? That doesn’ t get you a better light. That doesn’ t really get you much, I guess.
But a couple times this year, I’ ve raced Dallas Glenn, one of the new young guns that’ s just effortless at cutting great lights and being able to win races and he’ s in the same equipment as me, but he’ s got something in his book that I don’ t necessarily have. He can actually go up there and red light. He can see that light that well and actually let the clutch out and be too amped up, too excited, and red light. And he’ s lost twice to me this year in final rounds via just barely red lighting. And I’ ve kind of chuckled at the finish line. That’ s not a problem I have. I can’ t necessarily red-light unless I just flat screw up. I can’ t necessarily red-light.
I guess it’ s a good problem, but at the same time it’ s cost him two races too, so it’ s a double-edged sword. I guess that’ s the wisdom and the experience play. Just make sure you do the best you can and go down that racetrack. And a couple times this year it’ s worked out good for me where he’ s gone over the edge and he’ s been red-lighting.
You talked about some of the guys you’ ve raced over the course of your career – multiple generations of greats that you’ ve raced against in Pro Stock. Who was your toughest rival or the one who pushed you the hardest?
There was so many over the years, but there were so many years of the Summit vs. JEGS deal, the me vs. Jeg Coughlin deal. I can remember so many just huge, huge races between the two of us. Obviously things change year after year, and Jeggy, he’ s raced a long time, but he’ s also taken breaks and stepped out for a year or two at a time and then come back.
In those years that he hasn’ t been around, there’ s been other people. I spent a lot of years trying to find a way to beat Dave Connolly. And then came along Erica Enders, and she got to the top of her game and got great equipment and I had a hard time beating her. So there’ s been a few different nemeses, whatever you want to call them – tough competitors, ones that mean more. The latest one, obviously, has been Erica, without a doubt, but there’ s been a lot of years over my career that Jeg Coughlin was that guy.
It changes as you go. The cool thing on my part is I’ ve been through it enough to have several different arch enemies or nemeses – people that I felt could take care of me no problem, and I really feared when I went up there. That must tell you you’ ve had a long career, and I’ m sure there’ ll be another one.
Maybe Dallas Glenn is the next one that I’ m just going to get to the point where I struggle more than I can beat him and he’ s going to beat me. You’ ve just got to stay out there as long as you can, and that’ s the beauty of drag racing. It seems that you can do it into your upper years.
It’ s kind of funny, I have a teammate over there at Hendrick Motorsports in Kyle Larson, and we talk about it all the time,“ Man, we need to get him in a Pro Stock car.” Tony Stewart is racing Top Fuel now. Kurt Busch has tried some Pro Stock. I need to get [ Larson ] in my Pro Stock car and see what he thinks of that. I floated the idea out there a couple times and the answer
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