Line Looks Forward, Not Back as Countdown Begins in Charlotte
Mooresville, N.C., September 16, 2015 – NHRA Pro Stock racer Jason Line has no desire to luxuriate in his past achievements, although that would be very easy to do heading into an event in which he was a finalist in each of the four most recent runnings. Of course it will be high on Line’s to-do list to put his blue Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the winner’s circle at this weekend’s NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway, but he won’t be calling on history to make that happen.
He also will not let the events of last season in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship effect his current plans. Line was one win light away from the crown when in the last round of the last race of the season his charge came to a halt.
“It’s not in my nature to look backwards,” said Line, currently No. 4 in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock points. “I’m going to continue to look forward, and I will do my best to try and win this year. Am I using what happened last year for motivation? No. I have enough to motivate me without focusing on that. But I do have a burning desire to win the championship; there is no question about it. That’s what we’re here for.”
So far this year, Line has brought two wins in four final rounds home for Team Summit, including an all-Summit Racing final at the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals in Atlanta, where he beat teammate Greg Anderson. Early in the season, he had hold of the points lead and was on a steady surge, but come summer, the two-time Pro Stock world champion was challenged. A handful of early exits and a couple of uncharacteristic starts from the bottom half of the field have since been shaken off, however, and Line came back in Brainerd with a final round appearance and a renewed sense of optimism in time for the six-race championship playoffs.
The KB Racing team will arrive at zMAX Dragway with a bunch of fresh test runs in their recent memory after logging plenty of hours in the engine shop and dyno room in preparation for the critical last leg of the season. They intend to extract every last bit of power from their in-house built engines and apply it thoughtfully to a racing surface that has been kind to them in the past. For Line, he is hopeful that all of the ducks are in a row.
“I think I saved up all my luck for the Countdown,” said Line. “I certainly haven’t burned up any luck yet this year, so hopefully I have some coming. I do know that the Summit Racing team has worked very hard, and I’m going to do whatever I have to do to win the race this weekend.”