Line Doubling Down at Summit Racing’s Main Event in Las Vegas
MOORESVILLE, N.C., April 6, 2015 – Jason Line and the Summit Racing NHRA Pro Stock team have an extended agenda this weekend at the 16th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Line, of Mooresville, N.C., enters the event as the points leader and with the current national record for elapsed time in hand as the driver of the blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, and he hopes to check off two more tasks before the weekend is through. In addition to going after his second Wally trophy of the season, Line is also seeking the first K&N Horsepower Challenge victory of his career on Saturday in Las Vegas.
A three-time finalist in the K&N Horsepower Challenge – a special bonus race that comes with a $50,000 payout for the best of the best in the naturally aspirated factory hot rod class – Line has yet to close the deal on one of the most coveted titles up for grabs for Pro Stock competitors. Notably, the shootout style race has been won four times by Line’s KB Racing teammate Greg Anderson. Making his 11th consecutive appearance in the event, Line will be pushing hard for a trophy of his won.
“I haven’t been able to make a win happen yet, but I’m getting tired of watching everyone else walk away with that cool K&N trophy,” said Line, who will race young gun Jonathan Gray in the first round of the bonus competition. “I’m going to do whatever I have to do to finally win this thing. It’s a great honor to be part of the K&N Horsepower Challenge, no question about it. It’s a really cool thing because we actually use a lot of K&N’s product, and this is a great way for us to showcase that. We really want them to know how much we appreciate that they are such a great partner. Hopefully, they’ll be writing my name on that big check on Saturday.”
The K&N Horsepower Challenge trophy is certainly high on the agenda, but Line heads to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway also seeking to avenge a runner-up at his sponsor’s title event last season. In the final round of the 2014 SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, Line was eclipsed by Erica Enders-Stevens. The most recent win by Line in Las Vegas was in 2008, when he won the spring event.
“We have a lot of momentum heading into this race,” said Line, who won the season opener in Pomona and was runner-up to Anderson in Gainesville just two races ago before a weekend for the record books in Charlotte where he blasted to a new world record with an elapsed time of 6.455-seconds. “I’m looking forward to Las Vegas. We always talk about the fact that this is a really big race – it’s the hometown race for our team owners, Ken and Judy Black, and all of the great folks from Summit Racing Equipment will be there, so that makes it a lot of fun. We want to do well in front of all of those people who support us throughout the year, and I think we’re in a good position to do that.
“It’s been awhile since we’ve felt this confident, to be honest. Our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros look great, and we have a few things we’re working on to make them even better. I feel good. Right now, we can absolutely win every week, no question.”