Jason Line Extends Win Streak to 17 Seasons with Indy Victory

Jason Line christened the 2020 season of NHRA's Mello Yello Drag Racing Series as his final in the seat of a Pro Stock car. Once the decision was made, the three-time Pro Stock champion began a mental checklist of things left to accomplish. One of the most important was winning at least one trophy in his final season, which he did at the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. That victory extends his winning streak to 17 seasons, the longest any active driver in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

"This one is special," said Line. "This being my last year, I really wanted to keep the streak going. My dad [Lawrence Line] is big on stats. He's been keeping track and reminds me about it every time he can–I've won one every year since I started racing full time in 2004. No matter what happens the rest of this year, we've done that."

Line prepped for the victory by securing his position as Number 1 qualifier He used KB Racing horsepower to defeat Alan Prusiensky and Alex Laughlin in the first two rounds of eliminations before coming up against Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson in the semifinals.

Team Summit was guaranteed a trip to the trophy round as Line and Anderson rolled through the waterbox and laid down side-by-side burnouts. Anderson launched first and had top speed of the day, but Line crossed the stripe first for a 6.622/207.34 to 6.683,/208.14 victory to make the 104th Pro Stock final of his career.

Line defeated Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the final round with a cool .017 second reaction time and a 6.647/207.21 to his opponent's .022 second reaction time and 6.658/206.76 pass.

"This was definitely a different weekend," stated Line. "We had a lot of time off, and I can tell you that Greg Anderson led the charge in making sure that we came back with good stuff. He worked his tail off these past few months, and it showed in what we were able to accomplish yesterday and today. I'm pretty excited leaving here knowing that the silver Summit Racing Chevy Camaro is even better than it was before. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the rest of this year goes."

Line is currently second in the Pro Stock points standings.

Anderson Runs Quick in New Camaro
Greg Anderson pilot a new-to-him Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro with a striking patriotic wrap at Indy. The KB Racing-powered car was previously driven by Deric Kramer, who debuted a new Camaro at the event.

Anderson was a formidable opponent who entered race day with a capable car that set top speed of qualifying. The 94-time national event winner and four-time champion was sharp at the starting line in the first two rounds of eliminations with a .016-second reaction time in Round One against Troy Coughlin Jr. and a .017 RT in Round Two against Matt Hartford. Anderson clocked what would be low elapsed time of the entire event with a monster 6.603 second pass in the first round.

"My Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro isn't a new car, but it's new for me, and I can honestly say that I have a really good car now,” Anderson said. “It worked great–we just made a mistake in the semifinal and missed the starting line. But this Chevy is fast, it was easy to drive, and really it was just a joy. We're competitive again, and I'm happy. When we go racing again, it looks like I'll have something to say about how the remainder of this year goes."

Anderson is currently eighth in the Pro Stock points standings.

The next Pro Stock event on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA Heartland Nationals in Topeka, KS, August 21-23.

Wilkerson Makes Semifinal Appearance
On Sunday at Lucas Oil Raceway Tim Wilkerson, had a racecar that was eager to please its owner, and please its owner it did. The Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang reached the semifinals with Wilkerson at the helm on Sunday, and it showed certain promise and a total turnaround from qualifying. The two sessions on Saturday were each cut short as the Mustang inexplicably quit before reaching the finish line. After carefully going through the data and his car, the seasoned veteran was able to get everything in order.

Eliminations came with completely different racing surface and air temperatures compared to the day before, so it was a crapshoot as to who would bring the right combination to the table. Wilkerson had it dialed in and knocked out Cruz Pedregon in the first round. He then laid down his quickest pass of the weekend, a 3.982/321.12 journey down the dragstrip to defeat Jonnie Lindberg's 3.990/318.99.

The LRS Mustang was done for the day in the semis when a puff of tire smoke gave Matt Hagan the win with a 3.959/322.34 to Wilkerson’s 4.349/211.43.

"I knew if we could get this car to stop shutting off, it would run right–and it did," said Wilkerson. "It put a hole out there in the semis; it just got through the clutch out there in the middle and started to spin. I thought I could go a little faster than that, but the track was just a whole lot better today than it was yesterday because of the rain overnight. But I'm pretty happy with our performance today. We won some rounds, and I'm optimistic. We'll keep beating on it, and we should have a pretty good race car next week."

Wilkerson is currently fourth in the Nitro Funny Car points standings.

The next event on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule for Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car is the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals at Indianapolis, July 18-19.