Line Races to Final Round at Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals
LAS VEGAS, Nev., March 30, 2014 – The Summit Racing Pro Stock drivers were on a mission at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jason Line, a 32-time NHRA Pro Stock titlist, led the charge as the team raced towards victory on Sunday and came up just short as Line challenged for the title in the 67th final round of his career.
Line, of Mooresville, N.C., qualified in the No. 5 position based on a promising 6.630 at 208.94 mph. Following an extended delay in action due to aggressive winds that created a safety hazard for the Pro Stock competitors, the driver of the brilliant blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro clocked one of the quickest passes of the first round of eliminations on Sunday in his defeat of fellow Minnesota-native Deric Kramer. Line’s 6.645, 207.37 topped Kramer’s 6.705, 206.29.
For the second round, Line drew Dave Connolly, a driver known for his quick reactions at the starting line. This time, Line was first to leave the starting line, registering a .028-second reaction to Connolly’s .033. The pair were close together as they raced down the quarter-mile, and Line got the win light with a 6.652, 207.72 to Connolly’s 6.654, 207.91. The margin of victory was a slim .007-second.
On the other side of the ladder, Summit Racing teammate Jimmy Alund was making the most of his Sunday in the Nevada desert by earning the first NHRA round win of his career with a defeat of Vincent Nobile in the opening act and then, stunningly, putting Jeg Coughlin on the trailer on a holeshot in the quarterfinals. The respective successes of the Team Summit drivers manifested a meeting in the semifinals, where both were exceptionally quick at the starting line and stayed glued together down the track in a show of fierce yet friendly competition.
Line got the win with a .006-second reaction time to Alund’s .019 paired with a 6.645, 207.98 to 6.647, 208.10.
“I think the best part of my day was when Jimmy beat Coughlin in the second round,” said Line of his teammate’s defeat of the rival mail order parts catalog campaigner. “We might as well have won the race – that was big for us. Huge. Jimmy took care of business for Team Summit, and we were all very happy about that.”
Line’s victory over Alund set up an exciting final round, where he would have the chance to take out Erica Enders-Stevens, who was gunning for the double-up bonus after winning the K&N Horsepower Challenge the day before.
The Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro was tuned up, and so was Line. He reacted in .034-second, matching identically the reaction time of his opponent, and launched into a heated run for the trophy. Line’s 6.633 at 208.23 mph was his best run of the day, but Enders-Stevens’ 6.612, 208.78 got the edge at the finish-line stripe.
“It’s certainly disappointing to come so close and not get the win,” said Line, who was most recently victorious at the season opener in Pomona this year and moved into the No. 2 position in the Pro Stock standings following the Summit-sponsored race in Las Vegas. “It’s frustrating, and it was a very hard weekend. But the end result was decent, and we’re going to take our Summit Racing Camaros back out to the racetrack in Charlotte next week and do some testing before the next race.
“If we can step back from being disappointed that we didn’t win, today was a pretty darn good day for the Summit Racing team.”
