ENNIS, Texas, September 25, 2011 – Jason Line and the Summit Racing team continued to make strides towards the 2011 Full Throttle Championship on Sunday, sweeping the competition in winning the Pro Stock title at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas. Starting from the No. 1 position after resetting the track elapsed time and speed records in qualifying, Line eliminated six-time champion Warren Johnson, Countdown contender Greg Stanfield and Steve Kent in the early rounds before squaring off against rival Kurt Johnson in the final in a rematch of last week’s championship round in Charlotte won by Johnson.
This time, however, Line was not to be denied using a .027 reaction time to gain the advantage and never looked back, powering through the quarter-mile in 6.633-seconds, with a top speed of 208.46 mph pass to gain the decisive victory over Johnson, who carded a 6.663-second, 207.85 mph run in the losing effort. It was Line’s fifth win of the 2011 season (tying his single-season best), first at the Texas Motorplex, and allowed him to increase his lead in the Full Throttle Championship standings to 112 points over teammate Greg Anderson.
“I don’t know how anyone could be happier than I am right now,” said Line. “This was just a huge day for the Summit Racing team, and I am so glad we were finally able to seal the deal. To be honest, it was getting a little frustrating making it to the finals at the last two races and not leaving with the trophy, but this one all but makes up for it.
“I certainly didn’t do the best job of driving today, but this KB Racing team gave me another great hot rod and we were able to make it to the final, where I was finally able to pull myself together and get the job done, winning from the No. 1 position for the first time in five years – that alone means a lot. All in all, it was just a great day.”
As the No. 1 qualifier, Line started the day with the luxury of being among the last pair to run in the first round, allowing the team to evaluate how track conditions might have changed overnight with the dramatic rise in temperatures. However, it also allowed him to witness numerous upsets, with six of the drivers in this year’s Countdown exiting in the opening stanza, adding a little extra pressure for his encounter with 97-time national event winner Warren Johnson.
However, he quickly allayed any fears by leaving on his opponent and posting the quickest time of the round at 6.611-seconds with a top speed of 208.88 mph to advance to the second round. Facing noted leaver Stanfield in the quarter-finals, the KB Racing driver again used the quickest time of the round to run down his opponent and advance to the semifinals, where the final obstacle between Line and the 55th final round appearance (and seventh of 2011) was upstart Steve Kent who had advanced to the semis for the second straight race.
Once again, Line took full advantage of his Summit Racing Pontiac’s horsepower to win the round. Despite being slowed by clutch issues, his 6.666-second, 206.70 mph pass was more than enough to out run Kent’s 6.716-second clocking and 205.60 mph top speed
“To be honest, I was extremely nervous watching all the top Countdown cars going out in the first round, because I wondered if I would be the next one on the list,” said Line. Fortunately, things worked out in our favor, and I was finally able to win one from the No. 1 position, as well as getting my first win at the Texas Motorplex including getting that cool Stetson cowboy hat they give the winners.
“The real icing on the cake is that Ken and Judy (team owner Black and his wife) will be at the next race in Reading, which has everyone at the shop extremely excited. He is such a vital part of this team, and we’ve missed not having him out there with us, so we’re naturally looking forward to having him out there at the starting line in his trademark cowboy hat. I can’t wait.
“I’d also like to thank some of the other the people who make this all possible, including Summit Racing Equipment, Red Line Oil, Cometic Gaskets, Mac Tools, PAC Valve Springs, Wilson Manifolds, Diamond Pistons, K&N Filters, Wiley X and all the great companies who support us. After all, we wouldn’t be standing here today without them.”
Despite his triple-digit lead in the standings, Line knows there is still plenty of work to be done if he is to score his second Full Throttle championship, as more than half the races remain before the titles are awarded at the Finals in November.
“I certainly appreciate being in the lead, but we’ve only completed two of the six Countdown events, so there is a lot of racing left before the title is decided,” said Line. “There are several drivers, including my own teammate Greg Anderson, who have stumbled a bit out of the gate, but you know they are going to turn it around very soon, so we definitely have our work cut out for us.
“Still it’s nice to be on top of the standings, and to see how well this Summit Racing team is working at the moment. Even so, we never stop looking for ways to make this program even better – in fact, I believe we learned something today that we might be able to apply towards future races. We’ll enjoy this win tonight, but tomorrow we turn our attention to Reading and doing whatever it takes to put one of the Summit Racing Pontiacs in the winner’s circle. After all, that’s what we’re here to do.”
This time, however, Line was not to be denied using a .027 reaction time to gain the advantage and never looked back, powering through the quarter-mile in 6.633-seconds, with a top speed of 208.46 mph pass to gain the decisive victory over Johnson, who carded a 6.663-second, 207.85 mph run in the losing effort. It was Line’s fifth win of the 2011 season (tying his single-season best), first at the Texas Motorplex, and allowed him to increase his lead in the Full Throttle Championship standings to 112 points over teammate Greg Anderson.
“I don’t know how anyone could be happier than I am right now,” said Line. “This was just a huge day for the Summit Racing team, and I am so glad we were finally able to seal the deal. To be honest, it was getting a little frustrating making it to the finals at the last two races and not leaving with the trophy, but this one all but makes up for it.
“I certainly didn’t do the best job of driving today, but this KB Racing team gave me another great hot rod and we were able to make it to the final, where I was finally able to pull myself together and get the job done, winning from the No. 1 position for the first time in five years – that alone means a lot. All in all, it was just a great day.”
As the No. 1 qualifier, Line started the day with the luxury of being among the last pair to run in the first round, allowing the team to evaluate how track conditions might have changed overnight with the dramatic rise in temperatures. However, it also allowed him to witness numerous upsets, with six of the drivers in this year’s Countdown exiting in the opening stanza, adding a little extra pressure for his encounter with 97-time national event winner Warren Johnson.
However, he quickly allayed any fears by leaving on his opponent and posting the quickest time of the round at 6.611-seconds with a top speed of 208.88 mph to advance to the second round. Facing noted leaver Stanfield in the quarter-finals, the KB Racing driver again used the quickest time of the round to run down his opponent and advance to the semifinals, where the final obstacle between Line and the 55th final round appearance (and seventh of 2011) was upstart Steve Kent who had advanced to the semis for the second straight race.
Once again, Line took full advantage of his Summit Racing Pontiac’s horsepower to win the round. Despite being slowed by clutch issues, his 6.666-second, 206.70 mph pass was more than enough to out run Kent’s 6.716-second clocking and 205.60 mph top speed
“To be honest, I was extremely nervous watching all the top Countdown cars going out in the first round, because I wondered if I would be the next one on the list,” said Line. Fortunately, things worked out in our favor, and I was finally able to win one from the No. 1 position, as well as getting my first win at the Texas Motorplex including getting that cool Stetson cowboy hat they give the winners.
“The real icing on the cake is that Ken and Judy (team owner Black and his wife) will be at the next race in Reading, which has everyone at the shop extremely excited. He is such a vital part of this team, and we’ve missed not having him out there with us, so we’re naturally looking forward to having him out there at the starting line in his trademark cowboy hat. I can’t wait.
“I’d also like to thank some of the other the people who make this all possible, including Summit Racing Equipment, Red Line Oil, Cometic Gaskets, Mac Tools, PAC Valve Springs, Wilson Manifolds, Diamond Pistons, K&N Filters, Wiley X and all the great companies who support us. After all, we wouldn’t be standing here today without them.”
Despite his triple-digit lead in the standings, Line knows there is still plenty of work to be done if he is to score his second Full Throttle championship, as more than half the races remain before the titles are awarded at the Finals in November.
“I certainly appreciate being in the lead, but we’ve only completed two of the six Countdown events, so there is a lot of racing left before the title is decided,” said Line. “There are several drivers, including my own teammate Greg Anderson, who have stumbled a bit out of the gate, but you know they are going to turn it around very soon, so we definitely have our work cut out for us.
“Still it’s nice to be on top of the standings, and to see how well this Summit Racing team is working at the moment. Even so, we never stop looking for ways to make this program even better – in fact, I believe we learned something today that we might be able to apply towards future races. We’ll enjoy this win tonight, but tomorrow we turn our attention to Reading and doing whatever it takes to put one of the Summit Racing Pontiacs in the winner’s circle. After all, that’s what we’re here to do.”
