Line Leads Team Summit in Early Phoenix Qualifying

CHANDLER, Ariz., February 20, 2015 – Winternationals victor Jason Line powered his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to the top half of the field on the first day of qualifying for the 31st annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, and the 2012 Phoenix winner is staying late and doing his homework to secure the best qualifying position possible before the field is set. Line, of Mooresville, N.C., is currently situated in the No. 6 spot at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park with two sessions to go on Saturday.

In the early session on Friday, the driver who made his first Pro Stock start in 2003 was out of the gate with a 6.562-second pass at 211.16 mph to jump into the No. 4 spot in the qualifying order. Meanwhile, Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson raced down to the track with a 6.595 at 209 mph. The later session brought about an identical 6.562 at 210.97 for Line, who would end the day sixth. Anderson was No. 11.

“It wasn’t quite what we had hoped for today, but it certainly wasn’t terrible,” said Line, who qualified in the No. 1 spot in Phoenix in 2007. “We’ll be better tomorrow for sure. That’s the challenge for the crew chiefs, to get the car smoothed out a little bit. All in all, it was a good day.”

The warm and pleasant weather in Phoenix this weekend is quite the contrast to what is happening in the east, where extreme winter weather has blanketed the region. Summit Racing’s Jim Greenleaf made the wise decision to travel west from Summit Racing Equipment headquarters in Tallmadge, Ohio to join the team this weekend.

“It’s always fun to have Jim here, and we have our team owners Ken and Judy Black here, too, so it’s a good group,” said Line. “We’re having a great time, and it’s the start of the new year. We’re excited. We have a lot of racing left, and right now I’m just happy to be racing. We’re going to learn something tomorrow that’s going to help us on Sunday, and we know we can go faster – so that’s always fun.”