Line Uses Consistency to Qualify Second in Houston
Event: 25th annual NHRA Spring Nationals
Location: Royal Purple Raceway, Baytown, Tex.
Day/Date: Saturday, April 28, 2012
Jason Line and his Summit Racing team strung together three consistent runs to earn the second starting spot for Sunday’s eliminations of the NHRA Spring Nationals in Houston, Tex. Starting with his 6.550-second, 211.00 mph effort on Friday evening, the reigning Pro Stock champion made three consecutive passes in the 6.55-second range, including the two quickest runs in Saturday’s twin qualifying sessions, allowing him to add a total of eight bonus points (out of a maximum of 12) while extending his 2012 streak of qualifying in the top two positions to six.
Despite this impressive performance, as he prepared for his first-round encounter with Rickie Jones, Line still felt there was room for even more improvement. However, his primary concern entering race day was translating his qualifying success into round wins and, hopefully, his second win of the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season.
“It may sound funny considering we had the quickest time in each session today, but I thought we would run better than we did,” said Line. “After all, we’re never happy unless we’re No. 1. Still, we had a very good day with our Summit Racing Pontiac, especially considering today’s higher temperatures and humidity. Best of all, we have a great starting spot for tomorrow and a very fast hot rod, one that is certainly capable of winning the race.
“Our goal for tomorrow is quite simple – to turn on our win light four times. Of course, there are fifteen other drivers with that same idea, so we just have to make sure we do our jobs better than they do. We’ve shown that we can get it done in qualifying – now it’s time to back that performance up with a win on Sunday.”