Jason Line is right on pace already this young season with his delightfully sarcastic sense of humor.

The three-time and reigning NHRA Pro Stock champion, who won the season-opener at Pomona but slipped to No. 2 in the standings at Phoenix with a Round 2 exit, wisecracked Saturday after securing the No. 1 starting spot at the Amalie Oil Gatornationals, “I like to win only every other race, usually.”

When someone asked him what kind of conditions he’d like to have for Sunday’s eliminations, Line quipped, “It doesn’t matter what I want. I talk to Mother Nature, and she ignores me.” (“All I want is a good racetrack . . . with two good lanes” was his straight-faced answer.)

But Jason Line is in a groove behind the wheel of the KB / Summit Racing Chevy Camaro, the subpar Phoenix performance aside.

With a 6.476-second elapsed time on Florida’s Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville quarter-mile, Line earned his third straight top-qualifier position and 52nd overall.

He said he’s “super-excited about tomorrow,” which will begin for him with a first-round bye in the 15-car lineup. Line will race the winner of the Nos. 8-9 match-up between Drew Skillman and Tanner Gray. Line will bring a 5-1 record into his bid for a fifth Gatornationals victory. He has four triumphs in seven final-round appearances here.

Moreover, Line – the 1993 national Stock Eliminator champion – said some of his favorite Gatornationals memories came during his sportsman-racing days.

“I had the opportunity to race in Gainesville during my Stock Eliminator days, and we made some really good memories. It was quite an experience. But I don't think I had any idea that down the road I would be part of the kind of memories we'd be making there as a team with KB Racing,” he said. “It's been a good track for us. It would be nice if history repeats itself this weekend and we can take our Summit Racing Chevy Camaros to another final round."

That’s a clear possibility.

He said Saturday that his top-qualifying time wasn’t as quick as what he thought he could have run. If he reaches the performance numbers he thinks are possible, that could spell trouble for the rest of the field that’s trying to slow down the Line-Greg Anderson steamroller that toyed with them all last year, as well.

Line said he thought his E.T. from Friday evening could hold up, although he said, “I felt like we could’ve gone faster than we did. The racetrack, quite honestly, wasn’t there for that. I felt pretty good about it.”

He said he and his team plan to “pick away at the tune-up and try to make the right moves” during eliminations.

Line joins Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), and John Force (Funny Car) as quickest in qualifying this weekend.