Line Consistent with Phoenix Raceday on the Horizon
CHANDLER, Ariz., February 21, 2015 – Summit Racing NHRA Pro Stock driver Jason Line was a heavy hitter on the first day of qualifying for the 31st annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, and on Saturday he was in no mood to lie down. Back at it, the driver of the blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro continued a consistent showing and picked up a bonus point en route to settling into the No. 6 position in the final qualifying order. Line will race another KB Racing powered driver, Vincent Nobile, in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.
On Friday in Phoenix, Line jumped into the No. 4 spot in the qualifying order with a 6.562-second pass at 211.16 mph and clocked a consistent 6.562 at 210.97 in the later round to temporarily occupy the No. 6 position. Saturday, refreshed and ready, Line and his Rob Downing-tuned Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro put a 6.564 at 211.59 mph on the board that stood as the third-quickest pass of the session. He followed up with a 6.581, 211.53.
“We made progress today in a lot of ways,” said Line. “We had one good run and one that wasn’t as good as we were hoping for, but all in all, it was pretty good. I think we have a racecar for tomorrow with our Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro. We aren’t really excited about racing Vincent Nobile first round, but we have four KB Racing cars out here this weekend, and with 16 cars, something like that is going to happen. It’s just the way it goes. But really, it doesn’t matter who we race. At the end of the day, we’re still going to be buddies. Whatever happens, happens. There have been a few times that Vincent has beat me, and I’ve beat him. We just have to go up there and do the best that we can.”
Line most recently raced Nobile at the St. Louis event in 2014. Line topped Nobile in the second round on his way to the final.
Although racing Nobile is less than ideal, Line narrowly missed a first-round meeting with Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson. Heading into the final round of qualifying, Team Summit was looking at their least favorite time to meet.
“Well, the good thing about racing your teammate is that you know for sure one of you will be moving on to the next round with a chance to win the race,” stated Line. “But no, we had to get ourselves out of that situation, and we knew we wanted Greg’s car to run better than it had been. Greg made a decent run and got into a much better spot on the ladder. It was a little late, but I think he’ll have a great racecar for tomorrow as well. It’s certainly a possibility that we could see a Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the winner’s circle.”