Anne Hansen and the Lowe Toyota/Star Racing Team Entertained Huge Crowd
The ADRL Hardees Georgia Drags VI event at South Georgia Motorsports Park had “standing room only” crowds despite the severe thunderstorms and poor weather forecast. The inclement weather negated the fourth and final qualifying run and left the team the number 21 qualifier out of the 36 teams entered.
“On our first qualifying run on Friday, we did not run the best we could, and we had to wait until the mid-afternoon run to get in the show,” said team owner, George Bryce. The Lowe Toyota Team qualified 12th on the hot mid-afternoon session with a decent run of 168.18 MPH in 4.35 seconds. “We had an electrical gremlin stop us from improving on the Friday night run,” said 25-year crew chief, Ken Johnson. “We stayed up till 2:00 a.m. to find and fix the problem. We did find the switch that caused the misfire and repaired it.” The team did not get to showcase the team’s power and Anne’s racing skill as the fourth session on Saturday morning was rained out. The ADRL made the decision to go straight into eliminations at the first break from rain.
The great news is Star Racing’s bright red 18-wheeler was parked on the midway to showcase the Lowe Toyota’s team colors, logos, the beautiful new black Tundra, and the candy apple red Pro Extreme Motorcycle that was emblazoned with the familiar “Lowe Toyota” logos. “We were parked and pitted in a prime location to show our new sponsor, our brand-new Toyota Tundra, and our crowd-stopping display.
In addition to many people taking pictures of the Pro Extreme motorcycle with the Lowe Toyota logo, we also had them taking pictures of the Tundra. I was so excited to be able to share with my peers and fans the Lowe Toyota connection. I even had the opportunity to have some taped TV interviews,” said an excited Hansen. Speaking of crowd stopping, South Georgia Motorsports Park had the largest attendance for a two-day event in the track’s history. “Over 40,000 fans came by our Lowe Toyota display and met Anne, took pictures of her, got autographs, and took photos of the black beauty of a Tundra,” said Bryce.
“This race was a great way to meet and speak with many Toyota owners and introduce Toyota to consumers who hadn’t previously thought of Toyota as an option when it comes time for them to purchase their next vehicle,” said Hansen. “Thank you, Lowe Toyota of Warner Robins, for supporting my dream to be able to race and run at such a huge event. I thoroughly enjoyed representing the team of dedicated professionals and my friends at Lowe Toyota in Warner Robins, Georgia!”