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CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 25, 2007) - In his first final of 2007 and 25th of his career, Jason Line finished runner-up today at the 23rd annual NHRA Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals.
En route to the final round Line drove his KB Racing LLC-owned, Summit Racing Equipment-backed Pontiac GTO by Max Naylor, Dave Connolly, and Jim Yates.
In the opening round Max Naylor turned on the red light by .003 seconds and Line took a free ride to the second round. For the record, Line ran an elapsed time of 6.634 seconds, low elapsed time of the round and low for the event.
In round two, Line and Dave Connolly left the starting line dead even but then Connolly's Chevy Cobalt went dead and coasted to the finish line. In the meantime, Line raced to the finish line, recording a pass of 6.701 seconds at 207.56 mph.
The semifinals found Line matched against Jim Yates, who had taken the win light over Line's Summit Racing Equipment teammate Greg Anderson in the second round when Anderson broke during the burnout. Yates got a slight advantage at the start, but it wasn't enough to get by the Pontiac GTO of Line. Line's numbers were 6.699/207.05; Yates recorded 6.723/205.70.
In the final round, Kurt Johnson was first to leave the Firebird International Raceway starting line, gaining an advantage of 35 thousandths of a second, which was enough to hold off the hard-charging Line. On a holeshot, Johnson's Cobalt crossed the finish line strip in 6.694 seconds, followed by Line in 6.676 seconds.
For their careers, the pair has now split evenly the 16 races in which they have met, with Johnson holding a 2-1 advantage in final rounds.
"It's all good, even through it seemed to go up and down - it was either hit or miss" said Line. "We either ran real good or we ran real bad. It was disappointing not to get that win light in the final round. We struggled with the racetrack and made some mistakes, but all can be corrected and we'll go after them again at Gainesville. We'll go back to the shop, see if we can find some more power, then head to the next race."
TELEVISION: ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD will air same-day coverage of eliminations for the 23rd annual NHRA Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals, the second of 23-national events on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, tonight, Sunday (Feb.25), from 7-10 p.m. The elimination show repeats early Wednesday morning, Feb. 28, from 4-6 a.m. Television times are ET and subject to change without notice. Check your local listing.
NEXT RACE: The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series now moves to Gainesville, Fla., for the 38th annual NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, March 15-18.
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 Runner Up in 25th Career Final Round
CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 25, 2007) - In his first final of 2007 and 25th of his career, Jason Line finished runner-up today at the 23rd annual NHRA Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals.
En route to the final round Line drove his KB Racing LLC-owned, Summit Racing Equipment-backed Pontiac GTO by Max Naylor, Dave Connolly, and Jim Yates.
In the opening round Max Naylor turned on the red light by .003 seconds and Line took a free ride to the second round. For the record, Line ran an elapsed time of 6.634 seconds, low elapsed time of the round and low for the event.
In round two, Line and Dave Connolly left the starting line dead even but then Connolly's Chevy Cobalt went dead and coasted to the finish line. In the meantime, Line raced to the finish line, recording a pass of 6.701 seconds at 207.56 mph.
The semifinals found Line matched against Jim Yates, who had taken the win light over Line's Summit Racing Equipment teammate Greg Anderson in the second round when Anderson broke during the burnout. Yates got a slight advantage at the start, but it wasn't enough to get by the Pontiac GTO of Line. Line's numbers were 6.699/207.05; Yates recorded 6.723/205.70.
In the final round, Kurt Johnson was first to leave the Firebird International Raceway starting line, gaining an advantage of 35 thousandths of a second, which was enough to hold off the hard-charging Line. On a holeshot, Johnson's Cobalt crossed the finish line strip in 6.694 seconds, followed by Line in 6.676 seconds.
For their careers, the pair has now split evenly the 16 races in which they have met, with Johnson holding a 2-1 advantage in final rounds.
"It's all good, even through it seemed to go up and down - it was either hit or miss" said Line. "We either ran real good or we ran real bad. It was disappointing not to get that win light in the final round. We struggled with the racetrack and made some mistakes, but all can be corrected and we'll go after them again at Gainesville. We'll go back to the shop, see if we can find some more power, then head to the next race."
TELEVISION: ESPN2 / ESPN2 HD will air same-day coverage of eliminations for the 23rd annual NHRA Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals, the second of 23-national events on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, tonight, Sunday (Feb.25), from 7-10 p.m. The elimination show repeats early Wednesday morning, Feb. 28, from 4-6 a.m. Television times are ET and subject to change without notice. Check your local listing.
NEXT RACE: The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series now moves to Gainesville, Fla., for the 38th annual NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, March 15-18.
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.
