After qualifying ninth for Sunday’s final eliminations of the NHRA Ford Thunder Valley Nationals, Summit Racing driver Jason Line knew he had his work cut out for him if he was to score his second win at the Tennessee quarter-mile. Further complicating his assignment was the massive rainstorm which invaded Bristol Dragway early in the morning, delaying the start of eliminations by four hours and creating a completely new set of atmospheric conditions for the crew chiefs to deal with.
Fortunately, Line and the Summit crew proved up to the challenge in the first round against No. 8 qualifier Shane Gray, bettering their qualifying time by over a hundredth of a second, posting a 6.704 elapsed time and 204.20 mph top speed to eclipse his opponent’s 6.721 second effort.
His reward for this solid performance was a second-round meeting with hometown favorite and No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson. Unfortunately, looking to gain an edge, he left the starting line five thousandths of a second early, handing the automatic win to his opponent, negating his best pass of the weekend at 6.694-seconds, 204.65 mph. Even so, the Mooresville resident will retain his points lead heading to next weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
“As well as Allen had been running today, I knew I would need every advantage to get by him, so I really pushed the tree,” said Line. “I actually thought I had nailed it, and didn’t fully realize it until I got to the top end. Even so, with his running that .67, I would have had to be .12 or better on the tree to beat him, so the strategy was the right one, just a couple thousandths early.
“Our biggest issue is getting my Summit Racing Pontiac back to running like it was. For some reason, it never took to this track all weekend, and although it was certainly better today than it had been in qualifying, there’s certainly still room for improvement. We have a very short week ahead of us before heading up to our sponsor’s track, and we’re going to have to make the most of it, figuring out what needs to be done. After all, it’s one of the biggest weekends of the year in Pro Stock, and we want to be on top of our game when we pull through the gates.”
Fortunately, Line and the Summit crew proved up to the challenge in the first round against No. 8 qualifier Shane Gray, bettering their qualifying time by over a hundredth of a second, posting a 6.704 elapsed time and 204.20 mph top speed to eclipse his opponent’s 6.721 second effort.
His reward for this solid performance was a second-round meeting with hometown favorite and No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson. Unfortunately, looking to gain an edge, he left the starting line five thousandths of a second early, handing the automatic win to his opponent, negating his best pass of the weekend at 6.694-seconds, 204.65 mph. Even so, the Mooresville resident will retain his points lead heading to next weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
“As well as Allen had been running today, I knew I would need every advantage to get by him, so I really pushed the tree,” said Line. “I actually thought I had nailed it, and didn’t fully realize it until I got to the top end. Even so, with his running that .67, I would have had to be .12 or better on the tree to beat him, so the strategy was the right one, just a couple thousandths early.
“Our biggest issue is getting my Summit Racing Pontiac back to running like it was. For some reason, it never took to this track all weekend, and although it was certainly better today than it had been in qualifying, there’s certainly still room for improvement. We have a very short week ahead of us before heading up to our sponsor’s track, and we’re going to have to make the most of it, figuring out what needs to be done. After all, it’s one of the biggest weekends of the year in Pro Stock, and we want to be on top of our game when we pull through the gates.”
