Line’s Sonoma Run Ends in Semifinals
Event: 25th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals
Location: Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California
Day/Date: Sunday, July 29, 2012
After bettering his time on every attempt in qualifying, Jason Line and the Summit Racing team entered Sunday’s final eliminations of the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif. cautiously optimistic about their chances. Starting from the fourth position, he got off to a good start in the opening stanza, using one of the quickest passes of the round at 6.526 seconds with a top speed 212.13 mph to defeat Shane Gray.
It was a similar situation in the second round, as Line combined a near-perfect .001 reaction time and a 6.534-second, 211.76 mph pass to eliminate sophomore runner Vincent Nobile, sending him to the semifinals for the tenth time in 2012. With teammate Greg Anderson having already defeated Mike Edwards in the other semifinal pairing, the final obstacle between Line and an all-Summit Racing final was No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson.
Although Line’s 6.535-second, 212.03 mph run kept pace with Johnson’s 6.532-second effort, it was not enough to overcome his opponent’s starting line advantage, with the reigning Pro Stock champion taking full responsibility. Even so, he found reason to smile as the teams head north for next week’s race in Seattle.
“We had a shot at an all-Summit final, but unfortunately I didn’t do a great job staging in the semifinals and was late,” said Line. “It’s one of those things that happens from time to time, so we’ll put it behind us and move on. The good news is that not only did we make our best pass of the weekend on that run, but with a race next week we don’t have long to wait to try and fix it.
“Still, it was a productive weekend. We gained ground on everyone in the points but Greg (teammate Anderson) and AJ and we kept pace with Mike (Edwards, who currently sits fourth in the championship standings), so we’re still in a good position heading towards the Countdown. We also learned a few things about our Summit Racing Camaro and are continuing to make it better every time out. Basically, we have a few races left before the Countdown starts, and we’re trying to accelerate our learning curve so we can be ready. We have a short week ahead, and a lot of work to be done.”