Just when it appeared the rest of the competition had caught up to Ken Black Racing’s Pro Stock team, his team made a statement to begin the six-race Countdown to the Championship.

Jason Line beat his teammate Greg Anderson Sunday in the Carolina Nationals.

Line had a 6.621-second run at 209.39 mph to edge Anderson’s 6.639-second run at 209.20 mph at zMax Dragway.

Line’s winning day included victories over Shane Tucker, Bo Butner, Vincent Nobile and Anderson.

“I don’t know, I have to think about,” Line said when asked how he won Sunday. “It was a great day for us and just a great way to start the Countdown. If you want to win the championship you have to come out smokin’ and somehow we were able to do that (Sunday). Racing Greg in the final is good and bad. It’s good, but then it’s bad when you look over there and he’s like the last guy you want to race in the final round. He’s tough to beat and he gets the best of me more often than not, but (Sunday) was my day.”

Line, who entered the Countdown first in the points, will head to St. Louis (Sept. 23-25) with a lead over Anderson. This was Line’s career-best eighth win this season in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro, and his first since Norwalk, Ohio, June 26. Line, who won NHRA Pro Stock world championships in 2006 and 2011, now has 45 career Pro Stock national event wins.

“Today didn’t seem easy to me, that’s for sure,” Line said. “The car ran great and it was a tough race track with tough conditions. We weren’t great, but we ran well.”

It’s no secret that Line, Anderson and fellow KB teammate Bo Butner had been doing some testing at national events late in the regular season. Line, however, isn’t putting huge stock in his Sunday win.

“Everybody’s made gains and we just put together what we felt was our best package in the last two months of testing and everything else,” Line said. “We ran well. We were not the dominant car, but we made good runs. Shane (Gray) ran very well and so did the Elite group. We raced well (Sunday) and that’s what it’s going to take to win in the Countdown. I think it’s a great feeling (to have he and Anderson 1-2 in the points). As long as one of the two of us wins it, or somebody on our team wins, Greg, Bo or I will be happy.”