LINE GETS SPEED RECORD EN ROUTE TO FRIDAY NO. 1

Jason Line’s a pretty good racecar driver.

He’s the two-time and defending NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock champion, he’s won 28 victories in that class, including six in 2011, and has the national Pro Stock ET record with a pass of 6.477 seconds he made at Reading, Penn., last year.

Friday, he continued his assault on the record books by setting the national speed record for the Pro Stock class with a lap of 213.91 mph at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, NC. He was able to back it up in Q2 with a 213.43 mph pass, giving him provisional top qualifier honors and five bonus points for leading the second round and being .001 seconds behind Allen Johnson in the first round.

The irony of the record-setting run was that Line thought it could have been better. “It was not a great run going down the lane,” he said immediately following the first round. “It didn’t start out that great anyway. It didn’t take to it that well. The wheels were really shaking and I had to shift it early but all in all, pretty cool. It was exciting to go that fast.”

Considering the unique format of the 4-Wide Nationals, teams will try things they wouldn’t think of at other facilities and the Summit Racing teams of Ken Black Racing are no different.

“It’s a nice opportunity to come here close to home and test a few things and we are testing a few things, so that part of it’s good. It’s a hard race and it’s different so it’s a race where you try some things you normally wouldn’t try.

If Line can hold P1 through Saturday, it will be his fourth consecutive pole at “The Bellagio of Drag Strips.” While that’s an impressive stat, it doesn’t take the sour taste out of his mouth after his loss in the finals here last fall to Kurt Johnson after a rare red light. Most racers will say a track never owes them a win, however…

“I think it does! It’s one of those deals where we’ve certainly run well here in the past, but we’ve just never been able to seal the deal, so maybe this weekend’s the time.”

Rounding out the top three Pro Stock qualifiers Friday were Allen Johnson with his ET of 6.504 seconds and Dave Connolly, performing double duty as a driver and tuner for Erica Enders, who made it down the quarter mile in 6.528 seconds.

< Prev		Next >