The Anderson brothers debut new livery and go 4-for-4 on podiums at the Great American Short Course Series May 22 and 23.
After the close of the Lucas Oil racing series in the late months of the 2020 Racing season, many wondered where that would leave Short Course Racing on the West Coast. Just a few months later, Dave Cole of Ultra 4 Racing and Lee Perfect from the Lucas Oil Regionals would team up to create the Great American Short Course Series. Not only offering racers a place to race on the west coast again, but a top notch live stream as well.
Day 1
After kicking off the season with a string of podiums in his Polaris Rzr at the Texplex series, Ronnie wasted no time throwing down a fast lap and qualified on the pole in his NOS Energy Drink ProLite for Saturday’s Race. After pulling an inversion of 4, he would be Starting on the outside second row.
When the green flag dropped, the top four put on a show for the fans and battled bumper to bumper to the halfway caution where Ronnie found himself in the third position. As the field went green Ronnie capitalized on the restart, and used his BFGoodrich KM3s to slingshot around the leaders in turn two and into the lead. Ronnie never looked back and went on to take home the ProLite win!
Saturday’s Pro2 race would mark RJs first time in the driver seat for the 2021 season since King of the Hammers. After a 3rd place qualifier, he was ready to do battle with the rest of the pro2 field and represent the new additions to the team for 2021, NOS Energy Drink and HighLifter Products. RJ quickly worked into 2nd place at the start of the race, and hounded Pro2 newcomer Mason McCarthy for the beginning laps before making his move coming into turn 6 on lap 4. RJ would grab the lead and never look back the remainder of the race after being pressured by Mickey Thomas in his new Pro2 and keeping the fans on the edge of their seats. This win would mark RJs 32nd career podium in the competitive Pro2 Category!
Day 2
On Sunday, Ronnie set out to prove Saturday’s win was well earned, and did just that putting his #52 ProLite on top of the charts once again! Hitting the top spot against points leader Christopher Poolvarde all three times throughout the weekend was no easy task, so Ronnie knew he had his work cut out in the main event. After an inversion of 4, Ronnie would once again start out in the 2nd row in his South Point backed ProLite.
Sunday’s battles proved to be just as action packed, as Ronnie exchanged fiberglass with the field and worked his way up into the 2nd place position! A mistake on lap 5 found him sitting in 3rd at the halfway caution. After the field went back to green, Ronnie searched for alternate lines around Glen Helen Raceway but could not find the extra push he had the day before, and brought the NOS ProLite home for a 3rd place on the day.
The biggest news that came out of the Anderson Bros Camp this weekend was that after Saturday’s Pro2 win, RJ would hand the keys to Ronnie and let him make his Pro2 debut at Glen Helen Raceway! Ronnie has made 2 appearances in the Pro2 at the Lucas Challenge cup, but never received any seat time at Glen Helen, nor has he driven on the updated 410 engine package. Ronnies first time in the truck would be for qualifying, where he would take it cautiously in the VP Fuels powered pro2 and bring home a 4th place qualifying run.
The invert however, would work in Ronnies favor for the Pro2 main event and put Ronnie on the Pole Position! Ronnie fired off the start of Sunday’s race and would lead a mistake free flag-to-flag victory and bring home a Win in his Pro2 debut!! The win marked an Anderson Bros Sweep of the Pro2 class at the Great American Short Course Series, as well as 4 podiums on the weekend.
“There is no better way to practice than in race conditions. My goal would be to move Ronnie up to the Pro2 division in the future so I knew this was a great opportunity for him to build some confidence in the bigger truck. While he may have surprised many with his Pro2 debut victory, the Anderson Bros team was not shocked at all! This year has been a roller coaster for Ronnie, so I’m super pumped to see him crush it this weekend and get the results he’s deserved!” – RJ Anderson