Hometown Racer Line Races to Final Round at Brainerd Nationals
BRAINERD, Minn., August 23, 2015 – Sunday at the 34th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals was almost a repeat of Brainerd eliminations last year when Summit Racing driver Jason Line wheeled his quick Chevrolet Camaro to the final round of competition. The NHRA Pro Stock standout and Wright, Minnesota-native, went all the way to the final round at his home track at this season’s rendition of the event, but he missed defending the title by a small margin. Even so, the two-time Pro Stock world champ is encouraged by the performance of his racecar.
“My Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is a good car,” said Line. “We made it better all weekend long, and that is a pretty good feeling for us at this time of the year. We went through a little bit of a struggle getting back to the final round after the [Summit Racing Southern Nationals in] Atlanta earlier this year, but we got back there today. We made some good moves as far as making our car faster. It’s too bad I didn’t finish the job, but it was still a good day.”
Out of the box, Line was fired up and showed it as he clocked a .027-second reaction time in the opening act to aid in his defeat of V. Gaines, 6.581-seconds at 210.34 mph to 6.594, 209.43. That victory alone was a hurdle crossed as Gaines has gotten the better of Line twice this year in the first round.
In the second round, Line was respectable in his reaction time with a .031, and he advanced ahead of a troubled Allen Johnson with a 6.564, 210.54 to a 13.81. With the win light came a semifinals meeting with Shane Gray, and Line upped his game for their match, recording a .019 reaction time to his opponent’s .033 and keeping ahead for a 6.553, 210.47 win over a 6.572, 211.26.
Line set up for a final round meeting with Erica Enders, his first final since Atlanta but the 78th of his career. It was also his fourth of the season including a win at the season-opening Winternationals in addition to the Atlanta trophy.
His Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro was the quicker car, but for the first time all day, Line faltered. In doing so, he forfeited the round to Enders, 6.552, 210.34 to 6.541, 211.06.
“I thought I was going to win today. I just made a big error in the final, and I had to pay for it,” said Line, who remains No. 4 in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock standings. “It’s just one of those things, and I feel bad I let our Summit Racing guys down. We had the car to beat, and we should have won – but that’s the way racing goes. You just recognize that it could be worse, and you move on. We’re ready for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in just a couple of weeks, and then you can bet we’ll be ready for the Countdown to the Championship after that.”