Line’s St. Louis agenda: Check Gateway off to-do list, keep points lead
Mooresville, N.C., September 24, 2014 – Gateway Motorsports Park will host this weekend’s AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, just a stone’s throw from the famed Arch of St. Louis, and Summit Racing NHRA Pro Stock racer Jason Line will arrive on site as the track record holder and the current NHRA Pro Stock points leader. The Midwest Nationals, the third of six in NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship playoffs, will present the opportunity for Line to pad his points lead and win an event that has previously been missing from his scorecard.
Last weekend in Dallas, Line came up just a bit short in his quest for the title, qualifying No. 4 and exiting in the quarterfinals.
“Some races everything works in your favor, other races it just doesn’t,” said Line, who has four wins in seven final rounds so far this season and reached the final at the delayed NHRA Carolina Nationals that took place on Saturday at Texas Motorplex last weekend. “Overall, it was a good weekend for the Summit Racing team in Dallas, and we were able to keep the points lead – and I think we’re all looking forward to the race in St. Louis to hopefully get more of those points.”
Line has been in the points lead in NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings since winning the delayed Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. The race was slated to take place in Brainerd but was concluded, due to weather, during qualifying at the U.S. Nationals. Heading into Gateway Motorsports Park, Line has a 43-point lead over second place.
The driver of the blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro will have an obvious agenda that will include winning the Gateway Motorsports Park title for the first time in his career. Although he still holds the track record for elapsed time and speed set in 2012 at 6.496, 213.47, the St. Louis area drag strip is one of the few facilities where Line has yet to score a trophy – there are only five racetracks on the current Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour where he has not celebrated a victory of his own in the winner’s circle: Topeka, Epping, Denver, Indianapolis, and St. Louis.
“I think the fact that I haven’t won there means I’m due, and the odds are becoming more and more in my favor,” reasoned Line, a 35-time NHRA Pro Stock winner and 37-time victor overall with two trophies earned as a sportsman racing Stock Eliminator. “This particular racetrack hasn’t been kind to me, but we’ve run well there the last few years, and there is a first time for everything. Every bad streak must come to an end at sometime, and if everything goes as planned, the Summit Racing team will see this one end this weekend.”