TORCO NATS RESULTS
LINE MOVES CLOSER TO CLINCHING FIRST
POWERADE PRO STOCK CHAMPIONSHIP; McClenathan and Medlen also earn
victories at Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals
Jason Line raced to his fourth Pro Stock victory of the season Sunday at the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals and moved closer to securing his first NHRA POWERade world championship title. Cory McClenathan and Eric Medlen also were winners at the $1.6 million race at Virginia Motorsports Park, the 21st of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.
LINE MOVES CLOSER TO CLINCHING FIRST
POWERADE PRO STOCK CHAMPIONSHIP; McClenathan and Medlen also earn
victories at Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals
Jason Line raced to his fourth Pro Stock victory of the season Sunday
at the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals and moved closer to securing
his first NHRA POWERade world championship title. Cory McClenathan and
Eric Medlen also were winners at the $1.6 million race at Virginia
Motorsports Park, the 21st of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series.
Line, who set a national performance record of 6.558 seconds during the
weekend and scored the single race maximum of 138 points, now leads
teammate Greg Anderson by 119 points. In the final, the former NASCAR
dyno operator drove his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO to a 6.597 at 208.42
to hold off Tom Martino, who clocked a 6.645 at 207.78, also in a GTO.
To advance to the final, Line defeated Erica Enders, Dave Connolly and
Anderson in an important semifinal showdown.
“This is such a huge, huge step toward the championship," said Line,
who can clinch the title if he scores 20 more points than Anderson at
the upcoming ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Oct. 26-29 at The Strip
at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"It was tough to race Greg in the semifinals because we all knew what
was on the line, but we just raced like we have all year: straight
up," continued Line, also the 1993 NHRA Stock Eliminator world
champion. "This whole team is special, from the guys at the track to
the guys at the shop. It’s good that no matter what, the championship
is staying with us."
McClenathan powered his FRAM Boost dragster to his 29th career
victory and fourth at VMP with a final round performance of 4.644
seconds at 304.74 mph to hold off Rod Fuller, whose Valvoline/David
Powers Homes dragster lost traction at the start.
McClenathan defeated Dave Grubnic, David Baca and series leader Doug Kalitta to advance to the final.
“Thank God we're racing in Virginia again,” said McClenathan who last
won at Atlanta Dragway in 2004. “I love racing here. It’s been a long
time, a long struggle. The Carrier Boyz have been great; they never
doubted my ability or questioned anything that happened. We just stayed
together and went after our goals. This win is for them and all our
sponsors. I don’t know that anyone would have picked me at the start of
the day to win the race.”
With his semifinal finish Kalitta increased his POWERade Series lead to
83 over Brandon Bernstein and 89 over Tony Schumacher, who lost in the
first round.
Medlen earned his second victory of the season and sixth of his career
by defeating Cruz Pedregon in the Funny Car final. Medlen’s Castrol
Syntec Ford Mustang posted a 4.814 at 301.00, while Pedregon’s Advance
Auto Parts Chevy Monte Carlo ran 4.873 at 297.02 in the runner-up
effort.
“The only thing that could have been better this whole weekend would
have been to race one of my teammates in the final," said Medlen, who
beat Tim Wilkerson, Jack Beckman and Scott Kalitta in earlier
rounds. "I wish that (countdown to) the championship deal started right
now. If it did and this was next year we’d be right in the thick of it.
I’ll tell you: There’s nothing better than winning a race in Funny Car.”
Series leader John Force, who received minor burns to both legs when
his Castrol GTX Mustang suffered an engine explosion in a semifinal
loss to Pedregon, increased his points lead to 46 over first-round
loser Ron Capps and 54 over teammate Robert Hight.