Minnesota’s Line Starting Second in Brainerd
Brainerd, Minn., August 16, 2014 – The second day of qualifying at the NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway put Summit Racing Pro Stock driver Jason Line in a very good mood. Line, a native of Wright, Minn., made the quickest runs of the day in both of the qualifying rounds and earned six more bonus qualifying points, bringing his total of bonus marks collected over the course of the weekend at his home racetrack to nine. Ultimately, Line qualified second, just .008-second off of the top spot, and he will race Mark Hogan in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.
In the early run on Saturday, Line put a 6.622-second pass at 208.49 mph on the scoreboard, and he came back in the final round of qualifying with a consistent and commanding 6.622 at 208.30.
“Both of the runs today were better than Friday’s; I think Rob [Downing, crew chief] is getting a better handle on the racetrack, and we just keep chiseling on both the engine tune-up and the chassis,” said Line. “And I did a better job of driving today. All in all, I’m really excited. This Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is the best car I’ve ever had here, without question. Even though we didn’t qualify No. 1, there is no question that we’re the fastest car right now. It’s so hard to get the car to that point, and it’s a really fun thing when it happens. We’ve watched other teams do it throughout the year, and right now that’s where we’re at – and that feels really good. It’s a hard thing to do.”
While qualifying for Pro Stock continued, the extended Line family and customers who receive engine power from Line Performance were racing in abundance in Brainerd on Saturday as well. Although the family members were each eliminated from competition, Line Performance is still going strong with customer Steve Hutar winning four rounds in his J/SA Chevrolet Impala and ready for the fifth round on Sunday.
“Steve Hutar is actually the guy who helped me build my Buick,” said Line. “He painted it, and if it wasn’t for him, it wouldn’t have been running. He did a lot for me, so it was cool to see him with his car running really fast and to see him do well. It’s fun for me, that’s for sure.”
Line’s attention on Sunday, though, will be focused on the performance of his blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro and the white Summit Racing Camaro driven by his teammate Greg Anderson. The KB Racing duo qualified on opposite sides of the ladder at the Brainerd event, potentially setting up an all-Summit Racing final round as they had two weeks ago in Seattle.
“Hopefully we can have a repeat and meet in the final again,” said Line, who won the Seattle title. “That would be awesome. Greg is hungry right now, and he’d be tough to beat – but if we both get there, it would be a lot of fun.
“With the way our cars are progressing, by the time the Countdown to the Championship gets here, we’re going to be tough. There is no question. Right now, it just feels great to have a car that is really fast. I look forward to Sunday.”