Line Wins Dallas and Moves into Points Lead
 
ENNIS, Texas, September 22, 2013 – Jason Line is becoming a very big fan of the Lone Star state. The Summit Racing Pro Stock driver raced to victory today at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals, adding another Texas trophy to his collection after scoring in Houston earlier this season. With the win – the 31st of his career – Line moved into the points lead for the first time in 2013.
 
“I wanted another one of those Wild Bill cowboy hats you get for winning here, and I got it, but having the points lead is really exciting,” said Line, who was a finalist last week in Charlotte and sits atop the points with four races left in NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship. “That’s a big deal. To go from where we were two months ago to being here is a small miracle and a testament to all of our KB Racing guys and all the Summit Racing folks. There has been a lot of effort. We have worked harder than we have in a long, long time, that’s for sure. It’s good to see it starting to pay off.”
 
Although qualifying was cut short by two runs due to persistent rain that plagued the area surrounding Texas Motorplex, Line, who was No. 1 qualifier in 2011 and went on to win the event, had no trouble qualifying the silver Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the No. 5 position with a best time of 6.566 at 211.06 mph.
 
In the opening act on Sunday, the Mooresville, N.C.-based Line knocked out Rodger Brogdon with a second-best of the round 6.555 at 211.20 to his opponent’s 6.662, 209.52. His quick e.t. was good for the win light; however, it wasn’t quick enough to garner lane choice over Allen Johnson in the second round.
 
As the outcome would show, Line didn’t require lane choice to beat the defending series champ, and he launched his Summit Racing Camaro ahead of his challenger and continued to surge ahead for a 6.568, 211.39 to 6.578, 211.53 victory. This time, Line did earn honors for having the quickest car of the round, and he scored them again in the semifinals when he clocked an awesome 6.579 at 210.67 mph in his defeat of a red-lighting V. Gaines.
 
Loaded with horsepower and a definite sense of determination, Team Summit was calm as they towed up to the staging lanes for what would be Line’s 65th final round in NHRA’s tough Pro Stock division. Fully expecting a repeat of the Houston event, when Line beat Shane Gray in the final round for the title, the team saw their expectations become a reality as the scoreboard lit up with a 6.590 at 211.16 to Gray’s 6.595, 210.44.
 
“We were a little bit lucky today for sure,” said Line, referring to what appeared to be a malfunction at the starting line that was later suspected to be a disturbance of the staging beams by crickets. When Line pulled his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro into position to stage, the top bulb on the Tree, NHRA’s starting system, flickered off and on instead of fully illuminating.
 
“That was probably the oddest final of my life, no question,” continued Line. “I was not in deep [a method of inching in further than normal during the staging process in order to shave time off of a driver’s reaction time]; I did what I normally do without a plan to be first or last off the starting line. I was just doing my thing, and to be honest, I panicked because I didn’t know what was going on. I was definitely thrown for a loop.”
 
The disruption on the starting line showed in each driver’s reaction time. Line was a surprising .067 at the hit of the throttle while Gray was only a bit behind with a .074-second reaction.
 
“It is what it is, though,” Line concluded. “This win is huge, and timing is everything. We still aren’t where we feel we need to be, but the Summit Racing team is competitive. I can assure you that we are going to continue to work to get an advantage. We aren’t going to stop, and we have some very talented folks on the KB Racing team. It’s unfortunate that at the beginning of the year we didn’t show that, but sometimes you have to be willing to go backwards to go forward.”