LINE EARNS 50TH CAREER PRO STOCK NO. 1
The big 5-0.
Recording 50 of anything is a milestone achievement in any profession, but it is especially noteworthy when talking about performance on the race track. So when Jason Line crossed the stripe on Saturday with the quickest Pro Stock pass of the weekend to record the 50th No. 1 of his career, you might imagine he would be elated with the news.
“Wow, I didn’t think it was that many,” Line said with a laugh following the news of the career milestone set at the historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
Then again, maybe not.
Line recorded top qualifier award number 50 by besting teammate Greg Anderson in a back-and-forth start to the weekend at the 57th annual NHRA Circle K Winternationals, with three different drivers heading the field before Line took the top spot for good to begin the year just as he ended it - No. 1 at Pomona.
“To start the year off this way, that is what you hope for,” Line said. “And to be one and two, team Summit is pretty happy right now.”
Line took over the top spot during session three on Saturday and extended his advantage during the fourth and final session with a chart-topping 6.525-second pass at 211.53 mph in the Summit Racing Equipment Chevy Camaro. Teammate Greg Anderson, who also took a turn atop the ladder, fell in line behind Line in second with a 6.530 at 211.66 mph.
Vincent Nobile qualified third with a 6.547 at 211.10 mph, while Shane Gray (6.547) and Bo Butner (6.550) rounded out the top five.
While Line was certainly confident in the package his team brought to Pomona one year after recording eight wins in 14 finals on his way to his third career championship, he admits that anything was possible with an unchanged setup from what worked so well in 2016.
“Honestly, I don’t think we are any faster. We actually have the exact same stuff we had last fall. Nothing different at all,” Line said. “We worked on a lot of stuff, but didn’t really come up with anything any better. It is tough to make gains out here with the rule package the way it is. It is going to be very difficult to move forward and it is going to cost a lot of money to make very small horsepower gains. That is just the way it is. We are just going to have to pay attention to the details.”
Line will begin his title defense on Sunday against Val Smeland in round one as he looks to reach his sixth Pomona final in his last seven races at the southern California track.
“I think everybody else has improved a lot. It is going to be tight racing, but that is what everybody wants to see,” Line said.
In addition to the milestone achievement, Line’s chart-topping pass also awarded him valuable bonus points to get his 2017 campaign off to a strong start.
“Little points are huge,” Line said. “With the other teams making gains, the devil is in the details. We are going to have to pay attention to a lot of stuff this season. But we won’t let it bother us. To come out here and run well is what we are paid to do and, fortunately, we were able to do that here today.”