Summit Racing driver Jason Line continued his impressive 2011 season on Sunday, scoring a semifinal finish at Sunday’s Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill.. This performance allowed the current NHRA Pro Stock championship points leader to increase his advantage over four of the top six competitors, with the lone exception being his teammate Greg Anderson, who won the race. With five races before the start of the Countdown to One playoffs, Line leads Anderson by 54 points and is 77 points clear of third place Mike Edwards.
“It was a good points day, but this Summit Racing team is here to win races and let the points take care of themselves,” said Line. “Fortunately, Greg was able to take home the win, so it turned out to be a pretty good day for the KB crew. I’m just disappointed that we weren’t able to make it an all-Summit final.
“After doing so well in qualifying, I thought my car would perform a little better than it did. Even so, we can’t be too upset making it to the semifinals on a day that we struggled to adapt to the conditions. It was a decent day, but it could have been better.”
After having one of the quickest and most consistent cars in qualifying second behind his teammate Greg Anderson, the Mooresville, N.C. resident seemed ready to make a run at his fourth Route 66 Raceway win. Things went according to plan in the first round when the 2006 champion combined a .040 reaction time and 6.667-second, 205.91 mph run to defeat Richard Freeman.
In the second round, Line squared off against the most recent winner on the NHRA tour Vincent Nobile. Once again, Line used a representative 6.660-second, 205.79 mph pass to edge his young opponent, who posted a 6.688-second time and 206.45 mph speed in the losing cause.
This set the stage for a semifinal meeting with Erica Enders, who had qualified third and posted the quickest time in each of the first two rounds. Running in the less-preferred right hand lane, Line made a gallant effort, covering the quarter-mile in 6.673-seconds with a top speed of 205.98 mph. Unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome his opponent’s 6.665-second, 206.76 mph pass, putting a slightly premature end to Line’s day.
“All in all, I can’t really be too upset with our weekend, but we leave here feeling like we left a little on the table,” said Line. “Fortunately, we have ten days before our next race in Denver and the start of the Western Swing, so I’m confident this Summit Racing team is going to go back to our shop, go over everything we learned this weekend and put things in motion so we can improve going forward. After all, we want to have great days, not just good ones.”
“It was a good points day, but this Summit Racing team is here to win races and let the points take care of themselves,” said Line. “Fortunately, Greg was able to take home the win, so it turned out to be a pretty good day for the KB crew. I’m just disappointed that we weren’t able to make it an all-Summit final.
“After doing so well in qualifying, I thought my car would perform a little better than it did. Even so, we can’t be too upset making it to the semifinals on a day that we struggled to adapt to the conditions. It was a decent day, but it could have been better.”
After having one of the quickest and most consistent cars in qualifying second behind his teammate Greg Anderson, the Mooresville, N.C. resident seemed ready to make a run at his fourth Route 66 Raceway win. Things went according to plan in the first round when the 2006 champion combined a .040 reaction time and 6.667-second, 205.91 mph run to defeat Richard Freeman.
In the second round, Line squared off against the most recent winner on the NHRA tour Vincent Nobile. Once again, Line used a representative 6.660-second, 205.79 mph pass to edge his young opponent, who posted a 6.688-second time and 206.45 mph speed in the losing cause.
This set the stage for a semifinal meeting with Erica Enders, who had qualified third and posted the quickest time in each of the first two rounds. Running in the less-preferred right hand lane, Line made a gallant effort, covering the quarter-mile in 6.673-seconds with a top speed of 205.98 mph. Unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome his opponent’s 6.665-second, 206.76 mph pass, putting a slightly premature end to Line’s day.
“All in all, I can’t really be too upset with our weekend, but we leave here feeling like we left a little on the table,” said Line. “Fortunately, we have ten days before our next race in Denver and the start of the Western Swing, so I’m confident this Summit Racing team is going to go back to our shop, go over everything we learned this weekend and put things in motion so we can improve going forward. After all, we want to have great days, not just good ones.”
