Greg Anderson, who has held the points lead four times this season, has his sights set firmly on a fourth POWERade Pro Stock world title.

Heading into the annual NHRA Western Swing, Greg Anderson finds himself in a familiar spot at the top of the Pro Stock points standings. The three-time POWERade world champ, who has finished first, second, or third every year since becoming a full-time Pro in 2002, holds a 52-point lead over second-place Kurt Johnson with six races to go before the Countdown to 1 begins at the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals Sept. 11-14.

Thus far in 2008, Anderson has driven his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac to four wins in four final rounds. He seized the early lead by winning the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals in Pomona but slipped to fourth on a couple of occasions following uncharacteristic early-round losses in Las Vegas, Bristol, and Topeka. Anderson was fourth following the Chicago event in early June but reclaimed the top spot following back-to-back victories in Englishtown and Norwalk.

“I would love to have that No. 1 spot going into the Countdown and the 20 or 30 points that go with it,” said Anderson. “That's going to be large. That's certainly the goal, but we haven't done too well up until the last couple of weekends. But we've got a great race team, and they're kind of beginning to show us the way home this year.”

The normally consistent Anderson is at a loss to explain why his team has stumbled at times this year. As someone who normally qualifies at or near the top of the pack at every race, Anderson was an uncharacteristically low ninth in Las Vegas and 14th in Topeka.

“All you can ask for when you come to the racetrack is a chance to win,” he said. "For the last couple of months, we haven't had that great of a chance to win, but we've got a hot rod now, and I think we're back in the fight. We're going to keep swinging and make it better yet by the time we get to the Countdown. But there's a long way to go. There are a lot of great racers out here, and every race is so unpredictable. NHRA Pro Stock is just a great class right now. It's such a battle out there, and at the end of the day if you can find a way to win, you feel like you're king of the mountain. It's incredible the competition level in this class right now, and I'm just proud to be a part of it.”

Kurt Johnson recently relinquished the points lead to Anderson but remains one of his chief rivals for the 2008 Pro Stock championship.

Numerous drivers are positioned to make a run at Anderson, but perhaps none more so than Johnson, who has finished in the top 10 for each of the last 15 seasons, including four second-place showings. The only other driver in the class to have more than one win this year, KJ has collected victories in Madison and Chicago and has 38 wins on his résumé. Johnson’s ACDelco Cobalt has also been incredibly consistent; he has qualified in the top half of the field at all but one event. Ranked eighth after Gainesville, K.J. shot to the top spot after his semifinal finish in Topeka and maintained a grasp on the lead until being knocked to second after a surprising round-one slip in Norwalk.

After a turbulent 2007 season, Anderson’s teammate, Jason Line, appears to have regained the form that he displayed in 2006, when he won the POWERade title. Line is one of just four drivers who have held the top spot this year; he moved into the lead after a dominant performance at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas and has hovered around the top spot since. Line is 101 points out of first place, but he is coming off a solid performance in Norwalk that included the No. 1 qualifying position.  

The only other driver to lead qualifying this season is reigning POWERade world champ Jeg Coughlin. After winning two of the season’s first three races, Coughlin jumped out to an early lead but slipped to fourth following back-to-back round-one losses in Englishtown and Norwalk. Last year, Coughlin spent just one day in first place, but it was the day that mattered most: He completed a dramatic comeback at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals to claim his third Pro Stock world championship.

Since joining the 2008 tour in Atlanta, Dave Connolly has steadily climbed in the points standings, from 25th in Atlanta to 11th heading into the second half of the season, thanks in no small part to his win in Bristol.

If there is a wild card in this year’s battle for the Pro Stock title, it is Coughlin’s teammate, Dave Connolly. Sidelined for the first five events due to a lack of sponsorship, the young gunslinger joined the tour in Atlanta, where he debuted his Charter Communications colors. Although he lost in round one in Atlanta, Connolly quickly made up for lost time by reaching the final round at three of the next five events, posting a win in Bristol. Connolly is ranked 11th, out of the Countdown, but he is just 54 points out of 10th place. Should Connolly make the field -- and with six races remaining, it would be almost impossible to find anyone who would be against him -- that means tht one of the current top 10 will not qualify for the Countdown to 1.

With Connolly rapidly approaching, Greg Stanfield, Ron Krisher, and Warren Johnson, who are ranked eighth, ninth, and 10th, respectively, do not have the luxury of coasting into the Countdown field. Even in the unlikely event that Connolly slips, 12th-place Justin Humphreys, who recently switched successfully from a GM to an Allen Johnson-powered Dodge, appears poised to make a run at the top 10.