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POMONA, Calif., Feb. 9, 2007 - Defending POWERade Pro Stock champion Jason Line made a run toward the front of the pack during the second day of qualifying for the 47th annual CarQuest Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway. Line's Summit Racing Pontiac moved to the No. 2 position in the field with a run of 6.641 seconds, just .001 of a second off the pole pace, and he tied Jeg Coughlin for top speed of the meet at 208.46 mph.
"It wasn't a great run, but it was a good run," said Line. "There's no question that we can improve on that, and obviously we were happy to move up in the field as well as we did. Greg's Pontiac didn't fair quite as well but there's a lot we can learn from what his car did in that lane."
Line has never won an event at Auto Club Raceway but he was runner-up at the NHRA Finals in 2004 and 2006, and he was No. 1 qualifier at the 2005 and 2006 NHRA Finals.
"Considering Greg and I are running two brand-new engines, all-in-all we're both off to a pretty good start," said Line. "We have a lot more confidence in the potential of the GM DRCE3 now that we've had them on the track. We need to make better runs, although we still have a ways to go tune-up wise - we left a little out there."
Greg Anderson, in the Summit Racing Pontiac, fell to the No. 3 position in the field after shaking the tires hard during his qualifying attempt. Dave Connolly and the Torco Racing Fuels Chevrolet team did not improve on their time and dropped to the No. 4 spot.
"We tried to get after it a little too much and it spun up pretty hard in low gear," said Connolly. "It was still a decent run though. We were third for the session, we're still qualified No. 4 and we have Jeggie's Chevy Cobalt in the sixth spot. Both Cagnazzi Chevrolets are in the top half and you can't ask for much more than that considering it's only the first race. We can still improve, but as of now, with only two sessions into the season, we're pretty excited with where we sit.
"I know we have the horsepower and the right guys in the trailer making the calls, so there's no reason why we can't improve. Greg and Jason still have a little bit more down the back but I feel can get at least within a hundredth of them and that would put us within striking distance."
Kenny Koretsky improved to the No. 5 position in a Chevy Cobalt with a 6.659 e.t. at 207.82 mph, and Jeg Coughlin moved to the No. 6 spot with a 6.664 second run at 208.46 mph (that ties Jason Line for top speed of the meet).
"We made a nice move today on Day 2 of the 2007 NHRA POWERade season," said Coughlin. "After yesterday's session we didn't run real, real well. Looking at the sheet, we made a better run today - we moved up from ninth to sixth, and our speed is the best of the meet thus far so that is a move in the right direction. We're still struggling with this car down low for the first 100 feet. We need to improve there little bit by little bit and I think we'll be in good shape. We're 17th out of the pack at 60 feet, and we slowly pick up momentum all the way down the racetrack. Cagnazzi horsepower has proven to be very strong and the top speed showed that. We have some ponies and our Slammers Chevy Cobalt is a great car."
With two sessions of time trials to be completed on Saturday, eight Pontiacs are qualified in the 16-car field and four Chevy Cobalts, including the ACDelco Chevrolet of Kurt Johnson, are qualified in the top half of the field. Allen Johnson is currently the No. 1 qualifier in a Dodge.
Qualifying coverage of the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, Feb. 10, beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern. A three-hour broadcast of final eliminations can be seen on ESPN2 on Sunday, Feb. 11, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Pro Stock Qualifying Field Shuffles - Line's Pontiac GTO Slotted No. 2
Four Chevy Cobalts in Top Half of Field; Eight Pontiacs in Field of 16
POMONA, Calif., Feb. 9, 2007 - Defending POWERade Pro Stock champion Jason Line made a run toward the front of the pack during the second day of qualifying for the 47th annual CarQuest Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway. Line's Summit Racing Pontiac moved to the No. 2 position in the field with a run of 6.641 seconds, just .001 of a second off the pole pace, and he tied Jeg Coughlin for top speed of the meet at 208.46 mph.
"It wasn't a great run, but it was a good run," said Line. "There's no question that we can improve on that, and obviously we were happy to move up in the field as well as we did. Greg's Pontiac didn't fair quite as well but there's a lot we can learn from what his car did in that lane."
Line has never won an event at Auto Club Raceway but he was runner-up at the NHRA Finals in 2004 and 2006, and he was No. 1 qualifier at the 2005 and 2006 NHRA Finals.
"Considering Greg and I are running two brand-new engines, all-in-all we're both off to a pretty good start," said Line. "We have a lot more confidence in the potential of the GM DRCE3 now that we've had them on the track. We need to make better runs, although we still have a ways to go tune-up wise - we left a little out there."
Greg Anderson, in the Summit Racing Pontiac, fell to the No. 3 position in the field after shaking the tires hard during his qualifying attempt. Dave Connolly and the Torco Racing Fuels Chevrolet team did not improve on their time and dropped to the No. 4 spot.
"We tried to get after it a little too much and it spun up pretty hard in low gear," said Connolly. "It was still a decent run though. We were third for the session, we're still qualified No. 4 and we have Jeggie's Chevy Cobalt in the sixth spot. Both Cagnazzi Chevrolets are in the top half and you can't ask for much more than that considering it's only the first race. We can still improve, but as of now, with only two sessions into the season, we're pretty excited with where we sit.
"I know we have the horsepower and the right guys in the trailer making the calls, so there's no reason why we can't improve. Greg and Jason still have a little bit more down the back but I feel can get at least within a hundredth of them and that would put us within striking distance."
Kenny Koretsky improved to the No. 5 position in a Chevy Cobalt with a 6.659 e.t. at 207.82 mph, and Jeg Coughlin moved to the No. 6 spot with a 6.664 second run at 208.46 mph (that ties Jason Line for top speed of the meet).
"We made a nice move today on Day 2 of the 2007 NHRA POWERade season," said Coughlin. "After yesterday's session we didn't run real, real well. Looking at the sheet, we made a better run today - we moved up from ninth to sixth, and our speed is the best of the meet thus far so that is a move in the right direction. We're still struggling with this car down low for the first 100 feet. We need to improve there little bit by little bit and I think we'll be in good shape. We're 17th out of the pack at 60 feet, and we slowly pick up momentum all the way down the racetrack. Cagnazzi horsepower has proven to be very strong and the top speed showed that. We have some ponies and our Slammers Chevy Cobalt is a great car."
With two sessions of time trials to be completed on Saturday, eight Pontiacs are qualified in the 16-car field and four Chevy Cobalts, including the ACDelco Chevrolet of Kurt Johnson, are qualified in the top half of the field. Allen Johnson is currently the No. 1 qualifier in a Dodge.
Qualifying coverage of the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals will be telecast on ESPN2 on Saturday, Feb. 10, beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern. A three-hour broadcast of final eliminations can be seen on ESPN2 on Sunday, Feb. 11, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.
