After winning 15 times last season, Greg Anderson was noticeably relieved to notch his first race victory of 2005 at Atlanta Dragway.

The final round was as good a drag race as anyone will see, with Anderson and Line running identical 6.781 elapsed times, but Anderson scoring the win thanks to his .049 reaction to Line’s .060. Anderson claimed he felt he “didn’t have a chance” going into the final because Line’s car had been superior all weekend and “he was cutting down the tree.”

"I was a little late on the tree in the final and we just didn't make a good run,” Line said. “There was a ton of moisture on the racetrack and it was very loose out there. I probably should've lifted, but all in all just a great weekend for our team.”

PRO STOCK BIKE

Andrew Hines (left) and G.T. Tonglet relax before the opening round of qualifying. The Harley-Davidson teammates nailed down the top two qualifying positions, then Tonglet went on to earn his second career Pro Stock Bike win.

Andrew Hines set a new track record on his Harley V-Rod in qualifying number one with a 7.092 pass, breaking a three-year-old mark set by Angelle Sampey. Following him on the list was teammate G.T. Tonglet, with Antron Brown third on the first of the Suzuki entries. Wrapping up the 16-bike field in his first NHRA race appearance was Ricky Gadsen, also on a Suzuki.

On raceday, Hines easily handled Gadsen, but lost to a holeshot by Craig Treble in round two. Meanwhile, Tonglet got past Wesley Wells, Sampey, and Geno Scali to reach the final against Chris Rivas, who was competing in just his third P/S Bike event. Rivas left first, but Tonglet quickly overcame the advantage and posted a 7.106 at 186.30 to beat the 7.249/184.67 by Rivas. Tonglet also assumed the points lead with his win.

SHOOTING GALLERY

Dave Connolly had to be the biggest surprise among the non-qualifiers at Atlanta, missing the cut after making an identical 6.802-secs pass as number-16 qualifier Kenny Koretsky, but losing the position because he went .13 mph slower. Connolly debuted a Chevy Cobalt at the race and said it performed well, despite shaking hard in his final qualifying attempt.