Jason Line Wins Race Number 12 for Team Summit Racing

Team Summit Racing claimed win number 12 when Jason Line won the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. It was the sixth all-Summit final with Line facing off against teammate Greg Anderson at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

Line and Anderson also secured spots in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship. The last time a driver clinched a spot this early in the season was Tony Schumacher in 2008.

“To win a Summit Racing event, in a Summit Racing car, at Summit Racing’s home track is a huge deal,” Line said. “Greg and I have been very fortunate to be able to make that happen a lot throughout our racing careers.”

Line qualified second with a 6.569 second, 211.00 MPH pass. He defeated Curt Steinbach in Round One of eliminations (6.634/209.23 to 6.748/204.66); Erica Enders-Stevens in Round Two (6.662/209.04 to 6.737/205.57); and Vincent Nobile in the semi-finals (6.675/208.62 to 6.762/207.69).

In the final against Greg Anderson, Line had a .013 second starting line advantage and never looked back, taking the win with a 6.678/208.42 to Anderson’s 6.717/208.36.

Line admitted that he isn’t tired of racing his teammate in the finals this season.

“Greg’s the person I want to race the most in the final, but he’s also the person I want to race the least,” Line explained. “He’s got killer instinct and he’s a great driver. Right now our cars are so good that it certainly wasn’t an easy day.”

This is Line’s seventh win of 2016. He remains Number One in the Pro Stock points standings.

Anderson Makes It an All-Summit Racing Final Round
Greg Anderson qualified Number One with a 6.565/211.26 pass. He defeated Charlie Westcott Jr. in Round One of eliminations (6.636/209.33 to 6.849/202.36) and Alex Laughlin in Round Two (6.652/208.23 to 6.698/207.88).

There were tense moments in the semifinals against Shane Gray when Anderson’s car had mechanical issues and would not start. Anderson got the Summit Racing Camaro started and ended up taking the win against Gray, 6.675/208.04 to 6.699/206.86.

“In Pro Stock you have to start the motor on your own. Unfortunately the starter ripped a couple teeth out of the flywheel. It was stuck in that position and wouldn’t turn the motor over,” explained Anderson. “So I put the car in gear and the boys pushed it and I was able to get the motor to turn a little bit and get the flywheel in a spot where it had a couple good teeth. It started turning and I got her lit. We were able to make the run and squeak out a win by a thousandth of a second to make our final round.”

“In the final I spun the tires on the starting line and got a little too aggressive,” Anderson continued. “When you’re racing your teammate it’s like ‘let’s stop being conservative, it’s time to get after it.’ And I went too far.”

Anderson is currently second in the Pro Stock points standings.

Wilkerson Out Early
Tim Wilkerson brought his rebuilt ‘new’ car to the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. He qualified ninth with a 3.968/323.74 pass. Wilkerson was matched up against number eight qualifier Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round One of eliminations. It was a very close race, but Johnson took the win with a 3.984/317.72 to Wilkerson’s 3.991/322.34. The margin of victory was just half a car length.

“We had some new car blues – or should we say rebuilt car blues,” Wilkerson said. “The first couple runs all the systems didn’t work correctly, but we ended up figuring out what we did wrong. The car threw us some good bones on Saturday, and Sunday it made a damn nice run. We got beat by the better car. We had a good race, just the wrong end of it.”

Tim is currently seventh in the Funny Car Championship points standings.

Team Summit Results: Pro Modified
Kenny Lang ran a 6.043/244.69 pass during qualifying, but it wasn’t enough to make it into the very competitive Pro Modified field.

Team Summit Results: Top Fuel
Doug Kalitta qualified Number One (3.719/327.51). The pass was a track record ET—his third this season, second straight in Norwalk, and the 46th of his career. Kalitta had a bye in the Round One of eliminations and defeated Pat Dakin in Round Two, but was defeated by J.R. Todd in the semi-finals. Kalitta holds on to the Top Fuel points lead. 

“My Mac Tools team did great work on this four-race run,” Kalitta said. “We are halfway though our season, and we are where we set out to be. We will continue to race hard be even better in the second half of 2016.”

J.R. Todd qualified fifth (3.759/319.75). He defeated Terry McMillen, Leah Pritchett, and Doug Kalitta in the first three rounds of eliminations, and runner-upped to Shawn Langdon in the final. Todd is currently seventh in the points standings. 

“It is no fun to be so close and not get the trophy,” Todd said. “My guys worked so hard this weekend and they deserved to get the Wally. We will try again in Chicago and see if we can close the deal there.”

Team Summit Results: Funny Car
Del Worsham qualified Number One (3.875/328.70), setting track ET and speed records as well as his career-best ET. Del had a bye in Round One, but lost to Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round Two. Worsham is currently fourth in the points standings. 

“Very frustrating weekend,” Worsham said. “But I am extremely proud of the efforts of my team and the hours they put in.”

Alexis DeJoria qualified 12th (4.002/323.15). She defeated Jack Beckman in Round One, but lost to Courtney Force in Round Two. DeJoria is currently tenth in the points standings.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel: Shawn Langdon (3.846/319.75) defeated J.R. Todd (3.937/285.05).
Funny Car: Ron Capps (3.956/317.49) defeated Courtney Force (4.010/314.17).
Pro Stock: Jason Line (6.678/208.42) defeated Greg Anderson (6.717/208.36).
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Eddie Krawiec (6.926/194.72) defeated Andrew Hines (6.937/193.29).
Pro Modified: Billy Glidden (5.893/245.63) defeated Bob Rahaim (11.453/76.10).

Next Race
The next race on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule is the Route 66 NHRA Nationals, July 7-10 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. Visit Drag Race Central for complete results from the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.