Anderson captures Pro Stock title again

Greg Anderson won for a track record fifth time Sunday when he edged Jeg Coughlin Jr. for the Pro Stock title in the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s dragstrip.

His time of 6.724 seconds at 205.29 mph, which were the quickest and fastest of the weekend in the class, topped Coughlin’s 6.758 (204.25 mph).

He did it in his favored left lane.

He said the 46th victory of his career was by far the hardest for him to achieve of those he’s won at Las Vegas.

“I sure didn’t think I’d be here at the start of the day,” said Anderson, who drives for the team owned by Las Vegans Ken and Kenny Black.

“We struggled a bit in qualifying and then lost lane choice after (the first round) and we thought we were in big trouble.”

In pro drag racing eliminations, lane selection goes to the driver who ran quicker in the previous round.

Anderson, a four-time series champion, is not accustomed to not having his pick of lanes.

Anderson has won three of this year’s five races.

* FULLER BREAKS — Las Vegas resident Rod Fuller’s quest to win a Top Fuel title in his hometown was thwarted for the second straight time by a part failure.

Fuller lost in the semifinals when an engine part broke against Bob Vandergriff, who was defeated by Brandon Bernstein in the final round.

“Overall, I’m pretty happy with the results,” said Fuller, who qualified third.

“Deep down, I’m depressed. Anywhere else, I’d be happy with another semifinal finish, but being home, I’m not,” Fuller said.

A part failure also led to his defeat in the semifinals of last year’s NHRA national event in October at the speedway.

But he was able to extend his lead in the season standings to 41 points over J.R. Todd.

* CLOSE AGAIN — Las Vegan Bill Koski, 65, came one win from winning the second NHRA national title of his career when he lost to Matt Constant of Stockton, Calif., in the final round of Super Comp eliminations.

Koski, a retired General Motors engineer, won a 2005 NHRA national event title in Gainesville, Fla., but came up short in his fourth final round appearance.

* SPORTSMAN — In addition to Constant in Super Comp, winners of event titles in Lucas Oil Sportsman categories were: Joey Severance (Spanaway, Wash.), Top Alcohol Dragster; Jay Payne (Claremont, Calif.), Top Alcohol Funny Car; Frank Aragona (Old Bridge, N.J.), Competition; Jody Lang (Puyallup, Wash.), Stock; and Rodney Lee (Portland, Ore.), Super Gas. … Duane Shields of Boulder City lost in the semifinal round of Top Alcohol when his dragster developed a mechanical problem right off the starting line.