Jason Line Wins First Race of NHRA Countdown to the Championship

It was an all-Team Summit Racing Pro Stock final at the NHRA Carolina Nationals as Jason Line won the first race of the Countdown to the Championship.

Line qualified second behind Summit Teammate Greg Anderson with a 6.581 second, 210.41 MPH pass. He defeated Shane Tucker in Round One of eliminations (6.639/208.94 to 6.715/207.46), KB Racing teammate Bo Butner in Round 2 (6.642/209.01 to 6.672/209.75) and Vincent Nobile in the semifinals (6.630/209.20 to 6.646/209.30) to face Greg Anderson in the final round.

Line had a slight starting line advantage with a .025 second reaction time to Anderson’s .037. Both had near identical speeds (209.39 to 209.20 MPH), but Line took the win with an elapsed time of 6.621 seconds to Anderson’s 6.639.

“It’s just a great way to start the Countdown,” Line said. “If you want to win the Championship you really just have to come out smoking and somehow we were able to do that today. To race Greg is good, but it’s also bad because he is the last guy you want to race in the final round. He gets the best of me more often than not, but today was my day.”

This is Line’s eighth win of 2016 and 45th of his career. He maintains the Pro Stock points lead.

Greg Anderson was Number One qualifier with a 6.578/210.50 pass. It was his sixth first place qualifier of the season and the 86th of his career. That qualifying run also set low ET and top speed for the weekend.

Anderson defeated Alan Prusiensky (6.642/209.23 to 6.762/205.35) in Round One, Chris McGaha in Round Two (6.663/208.39 to 6.690/208.10), and Alex Laughlin in the semifinals (6.673/208.59 to 6.674/209.36). Anderson wasn’t stopped until the final round against teammate Line.

“We just didn’t have a good enough package to beat that blue car in the final round. He is tough,” Anderson said. “As the day went on Jason just got better and better. He was a little ahead of me and I needed one more run to get the tune back on this one. But it was a good day for KB Racing. We go to St. Louis with first and second in the points.”

Anderson is currently second in the Pro Stock points standings.

Tim Wilkerson qualified sixth with a 3.911/323.97 run. He defeated Chad Head (4.029/312.28 to 4.172/253.99) in Round One of eliminations, and met up with John Force in Round Two. Wilkerson got a huge jump on Force at the starting line, but the hot race track got the best of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang, causing the tires to smoke. Force took the win, 4.013/319.90 to 7.401/103.50.

“In the first round we did okay—we just spun the tires and put a cylinder out, but still went 4.02,” Wilkerson said. “In the second round the tires would just not stop spinning leaving the starting line. That starting line was crazy tricky up there. Everybody was fighting it as you can see. If you got past the starting line, you could get whatever you wanted out there in the middle, but we just missed it.”

Wilkerson is currently ninth in the Funny Car points standings.

Team Summit Results: Pro Modified
Kenny Lang came close to making the highly competitive NHRA J&A Services Pro Modified field, but just fell short with a 6.026/241.93 pass.

Team Summit Results: Top Fuel
Doug Kalitta qualified Number One (3.721/327.11). It was his first Number One at zMax Dragway, the fourth of the season, and the 47th of his career. He defeated Ike Maier, Leah Pritchett, and Wayne Newby in the first three rounds of eliminations, but lost to Antron Brown in the final. Kalitta is currently second in the points standings.

“We definitely wanted to get around Antron there in the final, but that was not in the cards,” Kalitta said. “We are confident in what we learned this weekend and I am looking forward to the Arch and racing in St. Louis next weekend.”

J.R. Todd qualified sixth (3.741/325.37) but was defeated by Pat Dakin in Round One. He is currently sixth in the points standings. 

“Not what we were looking for as we began the Countdown for the Championship charge,” Todd said. “But we are not out of it yet. We will go to Gateway and battle hard to get back into the thick of the chase for the title.”

Team Summit Results: Funny Car
Del Worsham qualified 12th (3.963/318.99). He defeated Jack Beckman and John Bojec in the first two rounds of eliminations, but lost to Tommy Johnson Jr. in the semi-finals. Worsham is currently second in the points standings.

“It was a solid day for the DHL Toyota team,” Worsham said. “We want to go as many rounds as we can in these Countdown races. We’ll will head to St. Louis, a place that brings fond memories from just one season ago.”

Alexis DeJoria qualified fourth (3.887/324.67) but was defeated by John Bojec in Round One. She is currently 10th in the point standings.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel: Antron Brown (3.763/319.29) defeated Doug Kalitta (3.811/320.28)
Funny Car: John Force (3.946/324.05) defeated Tommy Johnson Jr. (3.987/315.71)
Pro Stock: Jason Line (6.621/209.39) defeated Greg Anderson (6.639/209.20)
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Chip Ellis (6.879/194.88) defeated Andrew Hines (6.908, 193.49)

Next Race
The NHRA Countdown to the Championship continues at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park in in St. Louis, Missouri, Sept. 23-25. Visit Drag Race Central for complete results from the NHRA Carolina Nationals.