Unsightly red light sends Line home early from Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., September 7, 2015 – Jason Line came to the 61st annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals with a big goal: He intended to win. Of course the Indy win is on the mind of every driver in NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, but for Line, that particular trophy is one that he has wanted for a long time. On Labor Day Monday at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, Line pushed hard to accomplish the task at hand but came up on the wrong side of the tree in the quarterfinals.

Line started from the No. 7 position and drew Deric Kramer as a first-round opponent. The pair launched nearly in sync, and it was a definitive win for the driver of the blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro at the top end as he crossed the finish line first with a 6.626-second pass at 208.59 mph to his opponent’s 6.665, 208.42.

With lane choice, Line was set-up for a second-round meeting with KB Racing teammate Vincent Nobile, who joined Line and his Summit Racing counterpart Greg Anderson as drivers to have secured a spot to race in the Countdown to the Championship. Line was ready to go the distance, but a .063-second red light start shut him down with brutal immediacy. Nobile got the win light with a 6.621, 209.30 to Line’s 6.647, 208.10.

“Today was a tough day for the Summit Racing team,” said Line, who will start the Countdown to the Championship as the No. 4 seed. “We really wanted that Indy win, but the good news is that we are going into the Countdown with a positive attitude after making some good moves in the right direction. My teammate’s car is really good right now, and that’s definitely a positive. We wanted to have the No. 1 going into the Countdown but now we just have to do our best and make up the difference in these next few races.”