Line Climbing the Ladder on Friday at Route 66 Raceway

CHICAGO, Ill., July 10, 2015 – Jason Line and his blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro are starting off on a much better foot this weekend in Chicago at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals. One week ago, Line was struggling to break into the top half of the field in Norwalk, but on Friday in Chicago, he was No. 5 when the first two qualifying sessions were in the books.

“Yeah, I’d say we’re doing a lot better so far this weekend. I’m moving up in the world,” joked Line, who raced to a 6.571-second pass at 210.18 mph in the first session and improved significantly to a 6.546, 210.57 in the later session. “My Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro made a really good run tonight, we were just a little bit off in the tune-up. Tomorrow should be better – but we will have a really good hot rod for Sunday no matter what.”

In 2015, Line qualified in the top three at seven of the first 12 races – including three consecutive No. 1 qualifier awards earned in Las Vegas, Houston and Atlanta. Lately, though, qualifying has been a challenge for the 41-time low qualifier. In Bristol he was No. 9 and last week in Norwalk he was No. 12 – a startling departure from the norm.

“I think we’ve had our share of challenges, but we’re on the road to recovery, and we love Route 66 Raceway,” said Line. “This has been a pretty good racetrack for the KB Racing team, and it’s great that we get to qualify at night on both Friday and Saturday here. It makes a lot of sense; the fans are comfortable, we’re comfortable, and it gives our Chevy Camaros a better chance to go faster in the [cooler] conditions. We’re enjoying this.”