Line earns bonus points, ready for showdown on Sunday at NHRA Summernationals
ENGLISHTOWN, N.J., June 6, 2015 – Team Summit is set for Sunday at the 46th annual NHRA Summernationals, and Jason Line will start from the No. 5 spot in his blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Line, whose teammate Greg Anderson earned the top spot for the KB Racing team, was right there with his partner and earned a handful of bonus points to complement his start from the No. 5 position and add to his total in the Pro Stock standings. Line will race V. Gaines in the first round of eliminations at Raceway Park.
The conditions in Englishtown were conducive to quick times throughout qualifying, and Line was a benefactor on Friday as he picked up a bonus point in the first session and two more in round two.
In the opening qualifying round, Line put a quick 6.524-second pass at 213.06 mph on the scoreboard to situate himself towards the top, and as third quickest of the session, he was awarded a bonus point. In the later session on Friday, the Mooresville, N.C.-based driver was even quicker with a 6.511, 213.37 that was second best of the evening.
Eager to climb the ladder on Saturday, two-time Englishtown No. 1 qualifier Line and the Summit Racing crew awoke with two more sessions ahead of them to get the job done. In the third session, Line wheeled his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro to an improved 6.504 at 213.37 that brightened their outlook for raceday, and they finished with a data-generating 6.523, 214.04 – his best speed of the weekend so far.
Line was pleased with the improvements displayed by his Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro, but he was ecstatic in regard to the performance of the red Summit Camaro driven by his teammate, Greg Anderson. When qualifying was in the books, Anderson was in the No. 1 position for the first time since the Seattle race in 2011.
“I’m feeling pretty good right now, and I’m super stoked for Greg to have the pole,” said Line, who was the No. 1 qualifier for three consecutive races this season: at the SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, in Houston, and at the Summit Racing Southern Nationals in Atlanta.
“This is just really cool for Greg and Team Summit. Our KB Racing crew learned a few things today, Greg got his first green hat [exclusively awarded to No. 1 qualifiers at NHRA events], and all in all it was a fun day. We’re all looking forward to tomorrow.”
Line will race V. Gaines in the first round on Sunday, and he will do so with pleasure as it will afford him the opportunity to make right what went wrong two weeks ago in Topeka when Gaines beat him in the first round at the Kansas Nationals.
“I owe him for that. He whipped me,” said Line. “But in all seriousness, right now I am just very happy for Greg and our team. We improved with all of the KB Racing Camaros, and we’re going into Sunday feeling optimistic.”