It’s difficult to believe that it was just seven months ago that young Cody Anderson made his Pro Stock licensing passes at Rockingham Dragway. In many ways and certainly in terms of calendar months, it feels as though Cody – the son of Greg Anderson, the most winning driver in Pro Stock history – only just arrived. But on Sunday at the Inaugural NHRA Nationals at The Rock, the 28-year-old raced his way to the first final round of his career as his extended family cheered him on from the starting line. That emotional raceday performance stood as a reminder that the Rookie of the Year contender has actually been part of the NHRA Pro Stock program his entire life, absorbing it all, building a foundation without even realizing what was to come, and steadily carving his own path.
It may not have been realized early, but Cody was destined for NHRA Pro Stock. Every corner of his family is deeply ingrained in the class; grandfather Troy Humphrey – mom Kim’s father – put now six-time world champion Greg in a Pro Stock car for the first time, and “Papa Troy” was behind Cody when the time came as well, along with Jim and Annie Whiteley of J&A Service, Rick Hendrick and HendrickCars.com, and early support from Keith Haney and his Mid-West Drag Racing Series. Cody licensed at Rockingham Dragway in February of 2026 under the guidance and direction of the KB Titan Racing crew chiefs and drivers, and his licensed was signed by two of the heaviest hitters in the class – his father and reigning world champion Dallas Glenn.
It certainly isn’t over yet, but thus far in his rookie year, Cody has made incredible strides. His first round-win came in his Pro Stock debut at the season opener in Gainesville, where he got the win light over veteran competitor Greg Stanfield. Over the course of the season, the fresh-faced racer has been building steam. In Bristol, he outran one of the KB Titan Racing team’s most longstanding rivals in Jeg Coughlin Jr., and in Norwalk, one race later, Troy Coughlin Jr. was on the trailer in the opening act while Cody made the quickest pass of the round.
The scorecard continued to fill out nicely, and a career-best start from the No. 2 spot in Sonoma, followed by a first-round victory over Shane Tucker in Seattle, preceded what was then the highlight of young Cody’s career: at Brainerd International Raceway, a track that is Minnesota-native Greg’s home, Cody qualified No. 5 and reached the semifinals. On Sunday, he outran Erica Enders in the first round before defeating Matt Hartford on a holeshot in round two.
Steam was building, and a start from the No. 3 position paired with a round win at the prestigious U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis over Greg Stanfield’s son, Aaron, 6.573 to 6.589, closed out the regular season. Cody was officially locked into the Countdown to the Championship as the No. 9 seed.
The championship playoffs kicked off at US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich., and there Cody was No. 4 in the qualifying order and advanced to round two with a win over Kenny Delco. The next stop on the tour would bring Cody back to where it all began with those winter licensing runs on the very racetrack where his father had learned Pro Stock from behind the wheel at Roy Hill’s Drag Racing School: Rockingham Dragway.
The KB Titan Racing pits were bursting at the seams with tables and chairs filled with family and friends, from grandfather Troy on down to Cody’s aunts, uncles, cousins, even former neighbors. Rockingham Dragway sits just two hours from the KB Titan Racing shop in Mooresville, N.C., and the close proximity welcomed all.
“Today was the most nervous I’ve been all year,” said Cody. “The whole family is here, and just with the playoffs-points situation, it was big, but I was excited.”
Cody’s admission of nerves made all the sense in the world. At the second race of the playoffs, the point implications were packed with potential, both good and bad. Entering the event, Cody was No. 9 in the Pro Stock standings with the intention of climbing into the top five before the end of the season. Dad Greg was tied with teammate Glenn for third, with KB Titan-powered Matt Hartford leading and Elite’s Greg Stanfield sandwiched between in the No. 2 spot.
In Rockingham qualifying, Cody and his J&A Service/Humphrey Heating & Air/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet earned a start from the No. 5 position on a series of impressive and steady 6.4-second passes. He also earned a first-round meeting with Enders, another driver that had been a longtime rival of the team. Early in the season, the younger Anderson had met with the Elite Motorsports driver and come up short, but in Brainerd, he had turned the tides and beat her in a good race. There again in Rockingham, he stood strong, nearly matching her at the start and surging ahead for a solid 6.499, 209.59 victory over a 6.523, 210.58.
“I felt like that round-one win was huge, so I would have been completely satisfied if I had lost second round to my dad, and he could just go win the race,” Cody said at the end of the day.
But that is not how the game is played in the KB Titan Racing camp; even with a championship hanging in the balance, it’s never been the way, and they ran it fair and square. Cody launched first, and there was trouble for his dad the moment he left the starting line as the HendrickCars.com Chevy shook the tires fiercely. For Cody, the win light came with complex emotions.
“I almost felt disappointed when I saw my win light come on,” admitted the racer who worked on his father’s car for years before earning a spot to drive a Pro Stock car of his own. “I’ve always stood behind my dad, and with these playoff situations and him being way ahead of me in contention to win another championship, it was just bittersweet. Boy, we’re both competitive as all get out, and I get that from him, but if my win light didn’t come on, I wasn’t going to be mad at all. It’s really cool to race with my dad, I just wish it was the final. That’s why it was so hard – it was second round, and I wasn’t ready for him to lose; I didn’t want him to go out early, especially not because I beat him. It was a weird feeling, and that was a tough one for me, but we got past it and had a really good day.”
Cody’s 6.532 against his dad gave him lane choice over incoming points leader Hartford in the semifinals, and there, Hartford left the starting line first but was soon in trouble, rattling the tires and working to get it back. Ultimately, Hartford recovered enough to muster a 6.821, but Cody’s 6.562 was just enough to send him to the first final round of a still-blooming career.
“Round three was a little sketchy, everyone was blowing the tires off, and as a rookie driver, I don’t really have the experience of getting it down the racetrack when it’s shaking,” he said. “But I had a really good racecar, and it’s been proving that all year.”
As he arrived back in the pits for a quick turnaround, family and friends lined the aisle, shouting with joy and clapping raucously, cheering for the driver who grew up in the racing community as “Greg’s son” and was now, indisputably, Pro Stock driver Cody Anderson.
Soon after, the KB Titan Racing clan crowded behind their driver on the starting line, and although they didn’t get to experience the joy of Cody’s first victory, not a soul on the property was left questioning whether or not it’s coming. Stanfield launched first and got the win by .010-second, 6.537 to 6.525.
“We had a little luck on our side today, and the stars aligned to get to the final,” Cody reflected. “These KB Titan boys are bad-to-the-bone, and I just gotta do my job, swap feet, and shift the gears the best I can. We’re getting better, and we have a lot to build off of going to St. Louis and the last four races of the season. I’m excited, and I’m just so grateful for the support of everyone. This whole year has been everything that I ever wanted, it’s awesome. And I get to do it with my dad, so that’s pretty cool.”
This story was originally published on September 28, 2026. 
The post Pro Stock Rookie of the Year Contender Cody Anderson Reaches First Pro Stock Final Surrounded By Family and Friends first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
