Line Pointed in the Right Direction after Englishtown Campaign
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 2, 2013) – Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line had a productive weekend at the 44th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown. The Mooresville, N.C.-based driver earned a start from the No. 4 position and came just one round short of a final-round finish.
Line, currently fifth in NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings, rebounded from a heart-wrenching first-round loss in Topeka two weeks ago with a racecar that was strong in qualifying and respectable on raceday. The two-time NHRA series world champion clocked a qualifying best 6.581 at 210.60 mph and picked up a pair of bonus points during the qualifying rounds.
Unfortunately for the Summit Racing team, the achievement was somewhat tarnished because the ladder was unsupportive of advancement for both drivers in their group. As the No. 4 qualifier, Line was ordered to face teammate and No. 13 man Greg Anderson in the opening round on raceday for only the fourth time in a decade.
Anderson took a slight advantage in their head-to-head meeting but Line soon surged ahead for a bittersweet 6.595 to 6.639 victory. For his troubles, Line was awarded with a quarterfinals match with Jeg Coughlin. He easily overcame his very traction-troubled challenger with a strong 6.630 that was the second-quickest of the round. Although Line would fall to eventual event winner Mike Edwards in the semifinals, he made a strong closing statement with the fastest speed of the round in a 6.633, 209.59 effort.
“We were decent this weekend, we were better and getting back to good,” said Line. “Our performance with my car showed that we’re heading in the right direction, and the KB Racing team made the car better as we went along. The guys all did a really good job. We’re certainly getting closer to where we should be.”
Line’s second round victory over Coughlin was a thrill in more ways than one; the win light flashed in Line’s lane as expected, but his parachutes became tangled and failed to blossom. The seasoned driver knew just what to do, but the experience still got his heart racing.
“I was thinking, oh no, I’m going into the sand,” said Line. “I really didn’t think I was going to be able to get it stopped. I was just pumping the brakes and trying to get the car to calm down so that it would stop bouncing. If I was going into the sand, I wanted to be going as slow as possible before I got there. Thankfully, the brakes were good, we have good equipment, and I was able to get it slowed down enough so that I could round the corner and stop safely.
“All in all, the weekend was good. A lot of people seemed to have trouble with reaction times here, and my lights weren’t terrific, but the car and the crew bailed me out when I needed it. It was a good day.”
