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TOPEKA, Kan. (May 25, 2007) – Sometimes extra time to prepare for a race is good for a driver. Extra time is the case for Jason Line, driver of one of the two Summit Racing Equipment Pontiacs fielded by KB Racing LLC, due to the postponement of the Bristol event until July6-9 to repair unexpected problems encountered during the resurfacing of the 700-foot concrete launch pad.
“Extra time is always good,” said the reigning NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champ. “For me it was a double blessing. It gave me extra time to clear my head after a string of races that I’d just as soon forget. But more importantly, it gave me extra time to develop more horsepower for both Summit Racing Pontiacs. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we now have a whole bunch of races all together over the next two months.”
Since Phoenix, the second race of the season, Line has dropped from a high of second in the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock point standings after exiting in the early rounds. He now looks to the Topeka race to rebound. “Hopefully this is behind me and my KB Racing team. My Summit Racing Pontiac is too good not to be going to the later rounds. I hope Topeka will be the start of turning this season around,” said Line, as he looked to the 19th annual NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals being held June 1-3 at Heartland Park Topeka.
Line has been racing at Heartland Park Topeka since it opened. “I grew up in the sportsmen ranks in Division 5. In fact, I ran the first race at Heartland Park Topeka that they ever raced there and lost in the semifinals to Al Corda,” recalled Line, who won both the NHRA Division 5 Stock Eliminator championship and the NHRA Stock Eliminator championship in 1993. “It will be good to see a lot of old friends and my family will be there. I’m looking forward to seeing them and if I can get the job done, it would be especially nice to have my family in the winner’s circle with me.”
Line holds down the fourth spot in points in the first segment of the Countdown to the Championship. He has 427 points, 252 points behind his teammate Greg Anderson who leads all challengers. He is 39 points behind third place Jeg Coughlin, and 52 in back of Coughlin’s teammate Dave Connolly, who is in the No. 2 position.
“You know when you get behind somewhat in points you have a tendency to like this new Countdown to the Championship a lot better. After all, they even up the points after each of the first two sections,” laughed Line. “All kidding aside, my job will be to finish in the top eight after this first section but it sure would be nice to be one or two. That’s what we’re working toward.”
The O’Reilly Summer Nationals is the eighth of 17 events in the first of three segments that will constitute this year’s Countdown to the Championship. In its simplest form, the Countdown breaks the $50 million, 23-event NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season up into three distinct sections: the 17-race Countdown to 8, the four-race Countdown to 4 and the two-race Countdown to 1.
After the 17 regular season races, all teams will continue vying for points, with full fields, but only the top eight drivers continue to vie for the championship and advance into the first round of the four-race playoffs with the top driver being assigned 2,070 points and each of the remaining drivers 10 fewer points each (eighth-place is assigned 2,000 points).
After the four-race playoff, all teams will continue vying for points, with full fields, but only the top four drivers will have their points reassigned again in 10-point increments with the first-place driver receiving 3,030 and the fourth-place driver 3,000 and those four will continue to play for all the marbles.
The championship will then be determined over the final two races – the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas and the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona – with the final four drivers in each professional class competing for the 2007 NHRA POWERade Series championships in their respective classes.
QUALIFYING: Qualifying for Pro Stock cars begins on Friday (June 1), with two sessions at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Qualifying concludes on Saturday (June 2), with two sessions at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Final eliminations for all teams begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Times are local Topeka time (CT) and subject to change.
TELEVISION: Qualifying highlights for the 19th annual NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD on Saturday (June 2) from 5:30-7:30 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD will also air same-day coverage of eliminations on Sunday (June 3) from 4-7 p.m. The elimination show repeats early Wednesday morning, June 6, from 4-6 a.m. Also, be sure to tune into NHRA Race Day, the show which provides the drag racing fan with the latest information about the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The O’Reilly Summer Nationals installment of NHRA Race Day can be seen on Sunday (June 3) on ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD from 11-11:30 a.m. Television times are ET and subject to change without notice. Check your local listing.
KB RACING LLC is owned by Las Vegas businessmen Ken Black and his son Kenny Black. In the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, KB Racing LLC fields two Summit Racing Equipment Pro Stock Pontiac GTOs, one driven by Greg Anderson, a native of Duluth, Minn. who now lives in the Charlotte, N. C. area, and the other by Jason Line, a native of Wright, Minn. who now lives in the Charlotte, N. C. area, and a Top Fuel dragster, managed by Kalitta Motorsports, and driven by Hillary Will, a native of Fortuna, Calif. who now resides in Ypsilanti, Mich. Anderson won three consecutive POWERade Pro Stock Championships (2003-2005) and finished second in the point standings in 2006. Line, who finished second in points in his rookie season in 2004 and third in 2005, is the reigning 2006 POWERade Pro Stock Champion. Line was honored with the 2004 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, presented to the outstanding rookie in a professional category. Will finished No. 10 in her rookie season in Top Fuel in 2006 and was nominated for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award. The Pro Stock shop of Anderson and Line is in Mooresville, N. C. and the Kalitta Motorsports racing operation is in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Jason Line looks to Topeka for a rebound
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 25, 2007) – Sometimes extra time to prepare for a race is good for a driver. Extra time is the case for Jason Line, driver of one of the two Summit Racing Equipment Pontiacs fielded by KB Racing LLC, due to the postponement of the Bristol event until July6-9 to repair unexpected problems encountered during the resurfacing of the 700-foot concrete launch pad.
“Extra time is always good,” said the reigning NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champ. “For me it was a double blessing. It gave me extra time to clear my head after a string of races that I’d just as soon forget. But more importantly, it gave me extra time to develop more horsepower for both Summit Racing Pontiacs. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we now have a whole bunch of races all together over the next two months.”
Since Phoenix, the second race of the season, Line has dropped from a high of second in the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock point standings after exiting in the early rounds. He now looks to the Topeka race to rebound. “Hopefully this is behind me and my KB Racing team. My Summit Racing Pontiac is too good not to be going to the later rounds. I hope Topeka will be the start of turning this season around,” said Line, as he looked to the 19th annual NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals being held June 1-3 at Heartland Park Topeka.
Line has been racing at Heartland Park Topeka since it opened. “I grew up in the sportsmen ranks in Division 5. In fact, I ran the first race at Heartland Park Topeka that they ever raced there and lost in the semifinals to Al Corda,” recalled Line, who won both the NHRA Division 5 Stock Eliminator championship and the NHRA Stock Eliminator championship in 1993. “It will be good to see a lot of old friends and my family will be there. I’m looking forward to seeing them and if I can get the job done, it would be especially nice to have my family in the winner’s circle with me.”
Line holds down the fourth spot in points in the first segment of the Countdown to the Championship. He has 427 points, 252 points behind his teammate Greg Anderson who leads all challengers. He is 39 points behind third place Jeg Coughlin, and 52 in back of Coughlin’s teammate Dave Connolly, who is in the No. 2 position.
“You know when you get behind somewhat in points you have a tendency to like this new Countdown to the Championship a lot better. After all, they even up the points after each of the first two sections,” laughed Line. “All kidding aside, my job will be to finish in the top eight after this first section but it sure would be nice to be one or two. That’s what we’re working toward.”
The O’Reilly Summer Nationals is the eighth of 17 events in the first of three segments that will constitute this year’s Countdown to the Championship. In its simplest form, the Countdown breaks the $50 million, 23-event NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season up into three distinct sections: the 17-race Countdown to 8, the four-race Countdown to 4 and the two-race Countdown to 1.
After the 17 regular season races, all teams will continue vying for points, with full fields, but only the top eight drivers continue to vie for the championship and advance into the first round of the four-race playoffs with the top driver being assigned 2,070 points and each of the remaining drivers 10 fewer points each (eighth-place is assigned 2,000 points).
After the four-race playoff, all teams will continue vying for points, with full fields, but only the top four drivers will have their points reassigned again in 10-point increments with the first-place driver receiving 3,030 and the fourth-place driver 3,000 and those four will continue to play for all the marbles.
The championship will then be determined over the final two races – the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas and the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona – with the final four drivers in each professional class competing for the 2007 NHRA POWERade Series championships in their respective classes.
QUALIFYING: Qualifying for Pro Stock cars begins on Friday (June 1), with two sessions at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Qualifying concludes on Saturday (June 2), with two sessions at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Final eliminations for all teams begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Times are local Topeka time (CT) and subject to change.
TELEVISION: Qualifying highlights for the 19th annual NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD on Saturday (June 2) from 5:30-7:30 p.m. ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD will also air same-day coverage of eliminations on Sunday (June 3) from 4-7 p.m. The elimination show repeats early Wednesday morning, June 6, from 4-6 a.m. Also, be sure to tune into NHRA Race Day, the show which provides the drag racing fan with the latest information about the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The O’Reilly Summer Nationals installment of NHRA Race Day can be seen on Sunday (June 3) on ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD from 11-11:30 a.m. Television times are ET and subject to change without notice. Check your local listing.
KB RACING LLC is owned by Las Vegas businessmen Ken Black and his son Kenny Black. In the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, KB Racing LLC fields two Summit Racing Equipment Pro Stock Pontiac GTOs, one driven by Greg Anderson, a native of Duluth, Minn. who now lives in the Charlotte, N. C. area, and the other by Jason Line, a native of Wright, Minn. who now lives in the Charlotte, N. C. area, and a Top Fuel dragster, managed by Kalitta Motorsports, and driven by Hillary Will, a native of Fortuna, Calif. who now resides in Ypsilanti, Mich. Anderson won three consecutive POWERade Pro Stock Championships (2003-2005) and finished second in the point standings in 2006. Line, who finished second in points in his rookie season in 2004 and third in 2005, is the reigning 2006 POWERade Pro Stock Champion. Line was honored with the 2004 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, presented to the outstanding rookie in a professional category. Will finished No. 10 in her rookie season in Top Fuel in 2006 and was nominated for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award. The Pro Stock shop of Anderson and Line is in Mooresville, N. C. and the Kalitta Motorsports racing operation is in Ypsilanti, Mich.
