Jason Line Moves up in Points Standings After New England Nationals

Reigning Pro Stock world champion Jason Line had a good race car on Sunday at the NHRA New England Nationals, and moved up a position in the Pro Stock points standings to fourth place.

In Round One of eliminations, Line had a .017 second RT, and a 6.544 second/211.46 MPH pass to defeat Allen Johnson’s 6.842/167.82. In Round Two, Line cut a good light with a .022 RT but Erica Enders’ was quicker with a .008. Although Line had the quicker car, his 6.562/211.53 came up short to Enders’ 6.574/212.09.

“You know, it was a good race, and I’ll take a .022 reaction time any day of the week,” said Line. “It just wasn’t good enough today. I have a lot of confidence in

Four-time Pro Stock world champ Greg Anderson bowed out in Round One of eliminations on Sunday. Anderson and Kenny Delco left the starting line together, but a very bad bout of tire shake was something the defending event champion could not overcome. Delco won with a 6.717/ 210.24 to Anderson’s 9.866/98.80.

“We missed the starting line, overspun, and shook the tires,” said Anderson, an 87-time NHRA Pro Stock winner and the only Pro Stock driver on the tour to have won at every active racetrack on the circuit. “This is one of my best racetracks, but that didn’t get us much today. It was a learning experience.” Anderson remains third in points.

Tim Wilkerson was cautiously optimistic about his chances in New Hampshire. The driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Ford Mustang entered race with a solid 3.901/328.46 run that was third-quickest of the final qualifying session. But an unexpected clutch problem put Wilkerson out in Round One of eliminations.

Wilkerson did his burnout next to opponent Cruz Pedregon, backed up his Funny Car, and staged. When the tree came down, he immediately succumbed to clutch issues.   

“There was a clutch flow stuck open,” explained Wilkerson. “That happened to us last year once and we figured it out. We checked the clutch flow valve, and it looks like the piece of debris that was stuck in there, blew out. We have to disassemble the entire unit, clean everything, and start over.”

Despite the setback, Wilkerson did not lose ground in the Funny Car standings. He remains in ninth place, and he and the team look forward to next weekend’s event in Englishtown—the second of four races in a row.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel—Brittany Force (3.716/328.62) defeated Antron Brown (3.728/327.98)
Funny Car—Matt Hagan (3.897/332.59) defeated Courtney Force (3.927/332.34)
Pro Stock—Erica Enders (6.534/213.16) defeated Tanner Gray (6.550/212.06)

What’s Next
The next event on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour is the NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey June 8-11.

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