Event:  25th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals

Location: Pacific Raceways, Kent,

Day/Date: Friday, August 3, 2012

With only four attempts in which to not only secure as high a spot as possible in Sunday’s final eliminations field, but also learn as much as possible about the racing surface, every qualifying session at an NHRA event is an important step towards ensuring success on race day.  Therefore, when defending event and series champion Jason Line suffered a malfunction in his transmission on his opening run, his Summit Racing team found themselves scrambling to recover in time for the evening session.

Despite running in the very first pair, Line recorded a respectable 6.597-second elapsed time with a top speed of 210.54 mph to slot sixth with two attempts remaining on Saturday.

“You never want to be the first one out in the session, but we had not choice after breaking a piece in the transmission on our first attempt,” said Line. “It wasn’t a terribly good run, and we gave up a couple hundredths in the first sixty feet, which prevented us from being with the cars higher in the order.

Event:  25th annual NHRA Northwest Nationals

Location: Pacific Raceways, Kent,

Day/Date: Friday, August 3, 2012

The final race of the NHRA’s Western Swing got underway on Friday with the start of qualifying for the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, Wash.  With a repaved racing surface and temperatures in the mid- to upper seventies, Summit Racing Pro Stock Camaro racer Greg Anderson and the remainder of the Pro Stock contingent looked to take advantage of the favorable conditions and record some quick elapsed times.   

After opening with a solid 6.585-second, 210.83 mph pass in the afternoon session, Anderson picked up the pace in the evening session, improving to a 6.577-second time with a top speed of 210.97 mph to place fifth midway through the qualifying procedure.   

“The best way to describe our day is that it was uneventful,” remarked Anderson. “We made it through the goal posts twice, and even though we missed the mark on both runs, we were only off by half as much on the second one.   All in all, it wasn’t a bad day.

Mooresville, N.C., August 1, 2012 – Summit Racing driver Jason Line is in the midst of another outstanding year.  In the first 15 races of the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season, the reigning Pro Stock champion has logged one win in four final round appearances, along with five No. 1 qualifying positions.  In addition, he has earned valuable bonus qualifying points in all but one race, a showing that has allowed him to not only remain solidly in the top three positions in the championship standings, but also claim one of the coveted positions in the Countdown to the Championship playoff.

Lost in the midst of this solid performance is that after ten races Line parked the car which carried him to the championship one year ago in favor of his all-new Summit Racing Camaro, requiring that both he and the KB Racing crew adapt on the fly to their new mount’s tuning envelope.   Rising to the challenge, they come into this weekend’s NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle, Wash. with one final round appearance already under their belt, as well as five starts in the top five positions.  However, as Line is quick to point out, the learning process has just begun.

“The good news is that we continue to make progress with our Summit Racing Camaro, making it better with every race,” said Line.  “But even though we are headed in the right direction, we still have a long way to go before we get it to the level of consistent performance that we need to contend for wins on a weekly basis.  Naturally, we would prefer to spend a little time testing, but that’s not an option during the Western Swing.

“As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention, so at the moment we’re forced to do things a little differently than we might like, but as long as it’s effective, it really doesn’t matter how we get the job done.  Therefore, we will take everything we’ve learned over the past few weeks and look to keep moving forward this weekend in Seattle.  It all comes down to doing a better job of adapting our car to the conditions, and doing whatever it takes to successfully defend our win from a year ago.”

Ironically, Line has experienced his own learning curve at Pacific Raceways, site of this weekend’s event. After struggling to advance in his first four starts at the Kent quarter-mile, Line turned his fortunes completely around in his next four appearances, with two wins (including one year ago) in three final round appearances.  As such, it is easy to see why he is looking forward to this year’s edition.

“I like racing in Seattle,” said Line.  “It’s a great area, and we’re going to a high-horsepower track with a decent racing surface, which under the right conditions allows you to run really fast.  We’ve had our share of success there in recent years, and we’d like to continue that trend this weekend.  To do that, we’ll need to have our Summit Racing Camaro dialed in from the first qualifying pass and build on it from there.

Mooresville, N.C., August 1, 2012 – The sweet spot.  It is a phrase used by baseball players, golfers and racers to describe that area of the bat, club or tune-up which provides the maximum performance.  As each will tell you, it can be an elusive target, the pursuit of which can be rather lengthy and, at times, somewhat frustrating.  Such has been the experience of Greg Anderson and his Summit Racing team with their new Chevrolet Camaro.

In their first six races with the legendary muscle car they have certainly experienced their share of success, with one win in three final round appearances, a statistic made even more impressive by the fact that the KB Racing crew has yet to get fully acclimated to the needs of their still-new race car.  Even so, as Anderson prepared to head to the Evergreen State for this weekend’s NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle, Wash., he admitted that both he and his team still had some work ahead of them.

“Ever since we started racing this Summit Racing Camaro, we’ve been working non-stop to find its sweet spot, getting the right balance of performance,” said Anderson.  “Right now, it doesn’t want to run the first part of the track.  Anything down track is more related to the aero or engine packages, and even though we still have some work to do in that area, our biggest issue remains in the first 330 feet.

“Obviously, we’d love to spend a week at a track testing, but that’s not an option at the moment, so we turn our qualifying runs into learning sessions.  You hate to race that way, but it’s what we need to do at the moment in order to get these cars dialed in.

“Until we get the performance back where we need it to be, we’re also probably going to have a little inconsistency, as we make wholesale changes trying to make them better. These Camaros are completely different cars than the ones we ran before, presenting us with a new challenge that we just haven’t conquered yet.

“The good news is that we got closer with Jason’s (teammate Line) blue car in Sonoma, so now we just need to find something that my red car likes as well.  That’s why we’re in test mode right now, working to have them ready for the Countdown.  We know they are going to run, we just have to determine what they want.”

For the second consecutive week, the “factory hot rods” will enjoy conditions that are conducive to creating horsepower, with cooler temperatures and plenty of oxygen.  Nestled among the trees in the Seattle suburb of Kent, Pacific Raceways will test the teams as they try to match their 1,400-horsepower hot rods to a racing surface that, as Anderson describes, has a personality all its own.

“The track at Pacific Raceways is pretty quirky, and it all comes down to the weather,” said Anderson.  “For some reason, it does not seem to like sunshine at all.  You have to know when you’re racing there that it can be a very, very good track if it doesn’t have direct sunlight on it.  If it’s cloudy with cool temperatures it’s one of the best we race on and with the power we make you can run really fast.

Event:  25th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Location: Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California

Day/Date: Sunday, July 29th, 2012

Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing team continued their strong 2012 campaign, scoring a runner-up finish in Sunday’s final eliminations of the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif..  Starting from the sixth position, Anderson defeated Ron Krisher, Erica Enders and Mike Edwards in the early rounds before squaring off against No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson in the final.

Facing the combination of an apparent performance disadvantage and a lack of lane choice, Anderson knew he would need every possible advantage in order to secure the 75th win of his career. Reacting almost instinctively to the starting line Christmas Tree, the four-time champion used a near-perfect .001 reaction time to gain a slight edge.  Unfortunately, his 6.573-second, 210.93 mph pass was not enough to hold off us his rival’s 6.542-second, 211.76 mph charge.  Although disappointed to have missed out on the win, Anderson admitted that it had still been a good day for his KB Racing crew.

“To be honest, we made it to the final today based on some decent performance and a lot of good luck,” said Anderson.  “Once there, we were in the unusual position of being the underdog, which is something this KB Racing team does not really enjoy, but that Mopar is fast right now and not making any mistakes.  I know with some time and testing we should be able to gain on him and give him a run, but to do that we have to learn a little more about these Summit Racing Camaros.

“As good as the drivers are in this class, nine times out of ten you’re not going to make several hundredths up on the tree, which is what we needed to do. That’s why we made wholesale changes between every run trying to find some added performance.  In hindsight, our run in the first round might have been our best one at this moment, and something we should have stuck with, but when you’re behind, you make moves you might not make otherwise, but that is going to happen when you’re in test mode.

Event:  25th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Location: Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California

Day/Date: Sunday, July 29, 2012

After bettering his time on every attempt in qualifying, Jason Line and the Summit Racing team entered Sunday’s final eliminations of the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif. cautiously optimistic about their chances. Starting from the fourth position, he got off to a good start in the opening stanza, using one of the quickest passes of the round at 6.526 seconds with a top speed 212.13 mph to defeat Shane Gray.

It was a similar situation in the second round, as Line combined a near-perfect .001 reaction time and a 6.534-second, 211.76 mph pass to eliminate sophomore runner Vincent Nobile, sending him to the semifinals for the tenth time in 2012.  With teammate Greg Anderson having already defeated Mike Edwards in the other semifinal pairing, the final obstacle between Line and an all-Summit Racing final was No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson.

Although Line’s 6.535-second, 212.03 mph run kept pace with Johnson’s 6.532-second effort, it was not enough to overcome his opponent’s starting line advantage, with the reigning Pro Stock champion taking full responsibility.   Even so, he found reason to smile as the teams head north for next week’s race in Seattle.

“We had a shot at an all-Summit final, but unfortunately I didn’t do a great job staging in the semifinals and was late,” said Line. “It’s one of those things that happens from time to time, so we’ll put it behind us and move on.  The good news is that not only did we make our best pass of the weekend on that run, but with a race next week we don’t have long to wait to try and fix it.

Event:  25th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Location: Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California

Day/Date: Saturday, July 28th, 2012

Four-time Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson and his KB Racing crew continued the complicated procedure of dialing in their race car on Saturday at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif., recording the fifth and sixth quickest times during the final two qualifying sessions at Sonoma Raceway.  Even so, their 6.539-second elapsed time from Friday evening remained their run of record slotting them in the sixth starting position for Sunday’s final eliminations.

As he prepared for his first-round encounter against veteran Ron Krisher, the most successful Pro Stock driver in Sonoma history admitted the team was experiencing a few trials and tribulations in their search to find their race car’s optimum tuning zone, while assuring that every member of the talented crew was equally determined to solve their 210-mph puzzle.

“This car’s sweet spot continues to elude us, which is very disappointing,” said Anderson. “We know this Summit Racing Camaro is capable of running at the top, and have been working over the last few races to find out exactly what it needs. We’ve tried numerous combinations, but so far it has just not produced the results we were looking for.

Event:  25th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Location: Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California

Day/Date: Saturday, July 28, 2012

During the first day of qualifying at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif. Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line admitted that his team was still learning what his Camaro needed to run.  As the Pro Stock field was set on Saturday, it became apparent that the KB Racing crew was making progress, as Line bettered his elapsed time on every attempt, closing with the second-quickest pass of the final session, a 6.533-second, 211.69 mph in the heat of the afternoon to claim the fourth starting position for Sunday’s final eliminations at Sonoma Raceway.

“This Summit Racing crew did a great job, getting this Camaro to go quicker every round,” said Line. “I think we’re making progress, but it takes time with these cars.  Just like people, they all have their own personalities, and even though they don’t speak, they tell you what they need, and it’s up to us to listen.

Event:  25th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Location: Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California

Day/Date: Friday, July 27, 2012

After battling the thin air and unseasonably warm temperatures in Denver a week ago, Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing team were among many welcoming the horsepower-friendly conditions on Friday at NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif., where the sea-level altitude and seventy degree temperatures produced runs that were almost a half-second quicker.

Anderson’s Summit Racing Camaro also responded well to the change in venue, making two runs that were among the best of the “factory hot rods”, with his 6.539-second pass in the evening session placing him third with two sessions remaining on Saturday.  Although fairly pleased with his opening performance, the defending event champion acknowledged that work remained to be done.

“It’s certainly a lot more fun to drive these cars when they’re this fast” said Anderson. “Even though we have yet to make what we would consider a good run, we’re definitely closer than we were a week ago.  To be a hundredth behind with my car and two and a half with the other while making bad runs is not horrible, but we definitely have room for improvement.

Location: Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California

Day/Date: Friday, July 27, 2012

This weekend’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif marks only the fifth race for reigning Pro Stock champion Jason Line with his new Summit Racing Camaro.  As such, the team is still in the process of determining their new mount’s performance envelope, allowing them to extract the maximum under a variety of conditions.  Even so, Line and the KB Racing crew were able to open their qualifying effort at Sonoma Raceway with two solid runs, highlighted by their 6.550-second, 210.64 mph pass in the evening session, which placed them sixth midway through the qualifying procedure.

“Normally, these are our type of conditions, but we’ve been testing a lot of things lately, trying to learn more about this Summit Racing Camaro,” said Line. “Basically, we’re seeing if we can find its happy spot.  We definitely don’t have it where it needs to be at the moment, and it takes a lot of time to get there.  Unfortunately, people are comparing its performance to that of our old car, which had over a thousand runs on it and was completely dialed in.

Mooresville, N.C., July 25, 2012 – With only four days between races and virtually all of the Summit Racing team’s equipment on their two transporters headed west, reigning NHRA Full Throttle champion Jason Line joined millions of Americans in hitting the highway this week, taking a short vacation with his family.  Driving from Denver, the Lines’ itinerary included a visit with team owners Ken and Judy Black in Las Vegas before ending in the Napa Valley for this weekend’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

As Line describes, the road trip is a welcome opportunity to take a few moments away from the constant pressures of competition while also enjoying some quality time with those most important to him.

“With as busy as our schedule is throughout the course of the season, we don’t get to spend as much time with our families as we’d like, so we take advantage of any opportunity we can,” said Line.  “That’s why for the last few years our family has driven parts of the Western Swing.  It not only gives us a chance to spend time together, but we also get to visit some areas of the country that we haven’t seen before.  It’s always a lot of fun, and something we all look forward to every year.

“Driving so many hours also gives me plenty of time to think about things away from the race track, helping me arrive in Sonoma with a clear mind and ready to race my Summit Racing Camaro.  I’m getting tired of seeing other people win races, and would certainly like to do something about that this weekend.  This road trip could be just the ticket.”

Line can also derive some peace of mind from his record in Sonoma.  In only eight starts he has already amassed two wins in four final round appearances, becoming one of only six Pro Stock drivers with multiple wins in the California wine country, a total he would like to add to this weekend as teams make their final push for the championship playoffs, which start in just five races.

“There are a lot of reasons why we enjoy our race weekends in Sonoma,” said Line.  “First of all, it has been a great track for the Summit Racing team with conditions that suit our tune-up and both Greg and I scoring multiple wins there.  On top of that, it’s another one of Bruton Smith’s great tracks located in a really nice area, so we naturally look forward to going there.  This year we’ll also have Ken and Judy joining us, which always makes the weekend better for the entire team.

Mooresville, N.C., July 25, 2012 – In the first nine races of the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season, Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing team were the picture of competitive excellence, winning four times in seven final round appearances, capped by their win in Englishtown, N.J. in the KB Racing team’s first race with the new Chevrolet Camaro.  Over the last four events, however, their pace has cooled somewhat, with only one final round coupled with a pair of uncharacteristically early exits.

Therefore, as he and his crew head to the scenic Napa Valley for this weekend’s NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Anderson looks for he and his team to return to their winning form, which he believes will come from addressing any problem areas that have cropped up in recent weeks.

“We were racing really well just a few races ago, but seem to have fallen off our game a little recently,” said Anderson.  “We need to get back on track, making better race day calls, with everyone concentrating on doing their jobs to the best of their abilities, racing smarter and getting as much as we can from every run.

“We also need to get some more performance from our Summit Racing Camaros.  Even though they have been extremely competitive right out of the box, we are still early in the process.  The bottom line is that we have a lot of work to do and a short time in which to get it done, so we’ll head to the friendly confines of Sonoma and see what we can do to rectify some of our issues.”

As Anderson alludes, one aspect seemingly working in the KB Racing team’s favor is the site of this weekend’s event.  Located just north of San Francisco in the California wine country, the Sonoma quarter-mile has been one of the four-time champion’s best tracks, with four wins (including last year’s event) in seven final round appearances and an elimination round win record exceeding 80 per cent.  Although this certainly provides a welcome boost to their confidence, it is also an opportunity that the team knows they must take advantage of.

“We always feel good going to Sonoma,” said Anderson.  “We’ve historically done well there, so I’m sure we can turn our operation around and produce a better product this weekend than we did in Denver.  The conditions there are better than the hot and humid tracks we go to during the summer, so we’ll have a lot more power and our Summit Racing Camaros will run faster, which seems to play into our hands.

Location: Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colorado

Day/Date: Sunday, July 22, 2012

After struggling in qualifying, Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson knew his team would need to show improvement in order to contend in Sunday’s NHRA Mile-High Nationals in Denver, Colo.  Starting from the ninth position, the KB Racing driver responded to the challenge in the first round, using a stellar .014 reaction time to gain the advantage on arch rival Jeg Coughlin and never looked back, stepping up to a 6.978-second elapsed time and 197.28 mph top speed to gain the round win.

Anderson’s reward for his strong opening performance was an encounter with Allen Johnson, who had qualified No. 1 and been the dominant car throughout the weekend.  Although the four-time champion was able to make a solid 6.988-second, 197.13 mph pass, it was not enough to eclipse his opponent 6.945-second, 198.15 mph effort.  Despite being the first driver in the Pro Stock category to lock into this year’s Full Throttle championship playoff, he was more concerned with his team’s performance in the trying conditions at Bandimere Speedway.

“We knew coming into this race that since we did not test here, we would be a little behind the eight ball,” said Anderson. “As a result, we needed every run we could make, and when we missed that first qualifying pass, we found ourselves fighting to catch up, and just ran out of runs.  Because we struggled in qualifying we had to run the toughest car on the grounds in the second round, and we needed a couple more passes worth of tuning data to really take the fight to him.

Event:  33rd annual Mile-High NHRA Nationals

Location: Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colorado

Day/Date: Sunday, July 22, 2012

Entering Sunday’s final eliminations of the NHRA Mile-High Nationals in Denver, Colo., Jason Line and the Summit Racing Camaro crew knew they had their work cut out for them racing in the thin air at Bandimere Speedway, conditions that the team had fought en route to their fifth starting position.  Fortunately, the elevated temperatures the team had dealt with throughout qualifying abated slightly on Sunday, allowing Line to shave four hundredths off his best elapsed time, covering the quarter-mile in 6.948 seconds with a top speed of 197.10 mph in his first round defeat of newcomer Deric Kramer.

In the second round, Line used a nearly two hundredths of a second starting line advantage to overcome a mechanical issue and post a 7.011-second time to hold off veteran Ron Krisher, who recorded a 6.996-second time, for the holeshot win, advancing to the semifinals for the ninth time in this season’s 13 races.

The final obstacle between Line and his third Bandimere final round was No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson, who had posted the quickest elapsed time in every qualifying session as well as the the first two rounds of eliminations.  Once again, Line gained the edge at the starting line, using a nearly-perfect .007 light to leave nearly two hundredths of a second ahead of his opponent.  Unfortunately, his 6.971-second, 196.64 mph pass fell just shy of holding off his rival’s 6.936-second pass, putting an early end to his day.

Even though his performance allowed the reigning Pro Stock champion to secure his position in this year’s Countdown to the Championship playoff, he was nevertheless disappointed at not being able to score his second win of the 2012 season.

“For some reason, we just never got a good handle on the mountain this weekend” said Line.  “We did not test here before the race and the two cars that ended up in the final (Johnson defeated Coloradan V. Gaines for the win) did, which obviously helped them. Even though we ended up with a decent day, you hate to give any of them up.

“We’ll leave here and go to Sonoma, where the conditions better suit our tune up and hopefully we can rebound and put one of these Summit Racing Camaros in the winner’s circle.”

Event:  33rd annual Mile-High NHRA Nationals

Location: Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colorado

Day/Date: Saturday, July 21, 2012

Summit Racing Pro Stock Camaro driver Greg Anderson knew he had his work cut out for them heading into the Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Morrison, Colo.  As one of a handful of cars that opted not to test prior to the event, Anderson and his KB Racing crew faced the tough assignment of having to adapt to the unique conditions at Bandimere Speedway while trying to secure a starting spot for Sunday’s final eliminations.  This challenge was complicated even further on Friday when an ignition problem prevented the four-time champion from making their first qualifying attempt, depriving the team of valuable tuning data.

Although the team was able to rebound and make three respectable runs, including a 7.011-second, 196.44 mph pass on their final attempt to earn the ninth starting position, Anderson acknowledged that further improvement would be necessary in order to contend for his third win on the mountain.

“Since we didn’t test prior to the race, every qualifying attempt became that much more important, so losing that first run certainly didn’t help,” said Anderson.  “As a result, we never made what I would consider a good run, which is not the way you want to head into race day, especially facing as tough a ladder as we will have tomorrow.

Event:  33rd annual Mile-High NHRA Nationals

Location: Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colorado

Day/Date: Saturday, July 21, 2012

Reigning NHRA Pro Stock champion Jason Line completed a solid qualifying effort on Saturday, capturing the fifth starting position for Sunday’s final eliminations of the Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Morrison, Colo.  Although the Summit Racing driver’s 6.988-second, 196.93 mph pass from Friday evening remained his run of record, he posted two respectable runs on Saturday, covering the quarter-mile in 6.994 and 7.018 seconds.

Even so, Line was not totally pleased with his showing, and enters his first-round encounter with Colorado racer Deric Kramer looking to better his race car’s performance, while also admitting that a new approach, focusing on the man behind the wheel, might be needed to challenge for his first win at Bandimere Speedway.

“We just seemed to take one step forward and two steps back in qualifying this weekend, so we know there is room for improvement tomorrow,” said Line.  “The good news is that I think we learned a couple things about our Summit Racing Camaros today that we should be able to apply to tomorrow, which hopefully will give us a better car for race day.

Location: Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colorado

Day/Date: Friday, July 20, 2012

Jason Line and the Summit Racing team took to the track at Bandimere Speedway on Friday for the first time in a year, making their first qualifying attempts at the Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Morrison, Colo.  Despite not having tested prior to the event, the KB Racing crew acquitted themselves quite well in the thin air and high heat, making two solid runs.  After opening with a 7.027 second, 196.10 mph effort, Line came back in the evening session and took advantage of the cooler conditions to power his Camaro through the quarter-mile in 6.988-seconds with a top speed of 196.93 mph, slotting himself fourth with two attempts remaining on Saturday.

Mooresville, N.C., July 17, 2012 – When it comes to racing at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., site of this weekend’s Mopar NHRA Mile-High Nationals, Summit Racing Pro Stock Camaro driver Jason Line is a man of two minds.  On one hand, he enjoys going to the scenic speedplant carved out of the side of the mountain, and appreciates the effort put forth by the Bandimere family and their employees in maintaining the facility and making sure every detail is attended to during the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series’ annual visit.

However, he is not a fan of the atmospheric conditions at the Centennial State quarter-mile, where the mile-high altitude significantly reduces the amount of oxygen available, choking the “factory hot rod’s” carbureted engines and robbing them of nearly 400 horsepower.  As a result, a tuning package unlike that used at any other racetrack will be required, challenging teams to find a way to make the most of the trying conditions.

“The Bandimere family and their staff have a great racetrack in which they take a tremendous amount of pride,” stated Line.  “It’s a very cool thing to see, making it one of the stops on tour that you always look forward to.  However, it is a very tough place to race, and we will certainly have our work cut out for us this weekend.

“The tune-up required to run in Denver is way different from anything else we use the rest of the year.  Although the off-brands have run well there recently, we have a few different things we’re going to try in our Summit Racing Camaros this weekend.  It certainly won’t be easy, but I think we can give them a run for their money.”

As Line indicated, Mother Nature will be far from the only challenge facing the KB Racing team this weekend.  Although he has mounted a solid defense of his 2011 championship with one win in four final round appearances, a showing that will allow him to lock into this year’s Countdown to the Championship simply by qualifying in Denver, heading into the second half of the season he believes further improvement will be necessary both in their equipment and their at-track performance.

“Racing in Pro Stock is extremely tough at the moment, with any mistake, no matter how small, potentially costing you the race,” said Line.  “That’s why we’re constantly working to find whatever edge we can, including maximizing the performance of our Summit Racing Camaros.  It’s a great looking piece, and even though we are not yet where we need to be with them, they have already shown themselves to be good race cars.  We just need to get them in their happy spot, and we’re not going to stop trying until we do.

Mooresville, N.C., July 17, 2012 – Throughout the course of the 2012 Full Throttle Drag Racing season, teams will be challenged to adapt to a variety of conditions, from differing racing surfaces to a myriad of atmospheric changes.  However, nowhere will the assignment be more difficult than at this weekend’s Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver, Colo., where the naturally-aspirated Pro Stock cars will be throttled by the razor-thin air, producing elapsed times nearly half a second slower than at other tracks.

In his previous eleven races at Bandimere Speedway, site of this weekend’s event, Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro driver Greg Anderson has notched two national event victories, four No. 1 qualifying performances and won two-thirds of the elimination rounds he has contested.  Even with his most recent triumph coming as recently as 2008,  Anderson and his crew have been studying hard since the last race in Norwalk, working to come up with an effective plan for reaching the top of   “the mountain”, as racers refer to the scenic quarter-mile.

“To be honest, we’ve struggled with that Denver rascal for the last few years,” said Anderson.  “It’s a neat place to race – a cool city and a great racetrack, with the Bandimere family and their entire staff doing a tremendous job.  However, the conditions on the mountain are so different that it’s probably our toughest challenge of the entire season.

“We were unable to test there this year, so we’ve been hitting the books, poring over our notes from previous races, trying to come up with a good game plan for our Summit Racing Camaros.  We’ve been fast there in the past, so we know we can do it.  It’s just up to us to find a way to get back to that level of performance, and we’ll know how well we did once we get there.”

As Anderson explains, racing in the Mile-High City requires much more than a few simple adjustments.  Unlike their brethren in the nitro-driven categories, the “factory hot rods” will lose almost thirty percent of the horsepower normally available to them, completely changing the tuning dynamic, and necessitating the use of parts specifically made for this one race.

“We enjoy going to Bandimere, but our race cars certainly don’t,” remarked Anderson.  “Because of the lack of oxygen, the engines are choked down from the 1,400 we run at other tracks to about 1,000 – 1,100 in Denver, which goes against the grain of what we have tried to incorporate into the design of these Summit Camaros.

“For example, we have gear sets we’ll use there and nowhere else.  Basically, we have to make the motor and the car do something they weren’t built to do, which is a very tough assignment, and why we have been studying our notes. We’re trying to find the right answers, seeing what we need to do to perform well this weekend.”

Finally, this race marks the start of an NHRA tradition – the Western Swing.  Over the next three weeks, the world’s best quarter-milers will be competing on consecutive weekends, following the Denver race with stops in Sonoma, Calif. and Seattle, Wash.  With the playoff season rapidly approaching, this triad represents a prime opportunity for some to better their chances of securing one of the ten spots available.  In Anderson’s case, although he will lock himself in this year’s Countdown by simply making a qualifying attempt in Denver, the demands of “The Swing” remain the same, with the KB Racing crew working long hours to prepare for any eventuality that may occur while on the other side of the country from the team’s North Carolina headquarters.

“The Western Swing is a huge challenge,” said Anderson.  “We pack everything we possibly can in our trailers.  For example, we’ll take a spare race car along, which we don’t normally do, so the transporters are jammed full and you hope you’re taking enough to make it through, because it can be a battle of attrition.

“With the first race being in Denver you don’t want to incur a lot of damage to your engine parts, because it could make for a long three weeks.  On the other hand, if you make it out of this weekend in good shape, it makes the other two races seem a lot easier.  It’s a test of the entire team, and this Summit Racing team has shown in the past that we have the depth to make it work for us, and we’re hoping that’s the case again this year.

Event:  Sixth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals

Location: Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio

Day/Date: Sunday, July 8, 2012

Summit Racing Camaro driver Jason Line had a bittersweet performance on Sunday, scoring a runner-up finish at his sponsor’s race, the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.  Starting from the second position, Line defeated Rodger Brogdon, Jeg Coughlin and Shane Gray in the early rounds to advance to this fourth final round of the 2012 Full Throttle Drag Racing season, where he would face Vincent Nobile in a repeat of the K&N Horsepower Challenge final held 24 hours earlier.

Racing without lane choice, Line knew he would need every advantage to score his second win of the season, and used a lightning-quick .010 reaction time to gain the edge on Nobile, who is noted as one of the best ‘leavers” in the category.  Unfortunately, soon after his launch, his car headed directly for the outside wall, with the corrective actions necessary to bring the car back towards the groove scrubbing off valuable speed, resulting in a 6.705-second, 207.88 mph run, which fell shy of holding off his opponent’s 6.661-second, 208.01 mph charge, depriving the reigning Pro Stock champion of a coveted win.

“For some reason, we had some problems doing burnouts today, and it happened again before the final, which didn’t make for a good run, and it cost us,” said Line.  “Vincent’s a good kid and a good competitor, but we came here to win, so we’re not satisfied with anything else. It’s just disappointing because we really wanted to win for all the Summit employees on hand, as well as Ken and Judy (team owners Black.)