Anderson and Line Make Semifinals in Sonoma

Greg Anderson and Jason Line both made the semifinals at the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals. The weekend also saw Anderson earn his 102nd Number One Qualifier award, while Line set Low Elapsed Time (ET).

In Round One of eliminations, Anderson defeated a traction-troubled Joey Grose with a 6.528 second/ 211.49 MPH pass. In Round Two, Anderson’s 6.534/211.36 beat Drew Skillman's 6.585/211.33.

In the semifinals, Anderson left the starting line ahead of Jeg Coughlin Jr. (while recording top speed of the day) with a 212.43 MPH pass, but it came down to elapsed time. Coughlin got the win light with a 6.548 ET to Anderson's 6.554. The margin of victory was just .0018-second.

“We lost by one thousandth of a second,” said Anderson with a shake of his head. “Sunday has been our Achilles heel, but we’ll figure it out. Looking forward to Seattle next weekend because that's how you get better—you keep working.”

Anderson remains first in the Pro Stock points standings.

Jason Line defeated Steve Graham in Round One of eliminations and set Low ET of the event—a 6.505/211.96 pass—to Graham’s 6.620/209.62. In Round Two, he took the win against Erica Enders with 6.538/211.10 pass to her 6.547/211.96.

In the semifinals, KB Racing teammate Deric Kramer defeated Line, 6.525/211.10 to 6.551/211.26.

“We were really happy in qualifying, and our cars continue to get better,” said Line. “We’re getting closer to where we need to be for the Countdown. We came into Sunday with cars that could win, now we build on that.”

Line moved up to eighth in the Pro Stock points standings.

Tim Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car, qualified sixth for the weekend with a 3.975/308.50 pass. Unfortunately, Wilk had an early exit in Round One of eliminations against Robert Hight. Hight took the win with a 3.974/322.65 pass to Wilkerson’s 4.010/321.96.

“We had a good car, but I wasn’t as aggressive as I needed to be,” said Wilkerson. “Nobody could have beat Robert that round with the light he had and the run he made. But that’s racing. We have to focus on Seattle. Everything is coming around.”

Wilkerson is currently 11th in the Funny Car points standings.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel—Blake Alexander (4.004/287.47) defeated Tony Schumacher (4.345/219.65)

Funny Car—Robert Hight (3.984/319.75) defeated Ron Capps (4.077/296.11)

Pro Stock—Jeg Coughlin (6.532/212.16) defeated Deric Kramer (6.543/210.54)

Pro Stock Motorcycle—LE Tonglet (6.771/198.52) defeated Andrew Hines (6.802/197.48)

Pro Stock Low ET—Jason Line 6.505 seconds
Pro Stock Top Speed—Greg Anderson 212.59 MPH

What's next
The last stop on the Western Swing is the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Seattle, Washington, August 3-5.

For more information and complete race results visit DragRaceCentral.com.