Line and Alund Have First Round Meeting at the Gatornationals

Summit Racing teammates Jason Line and Jimmy Alund faced each other in the first round of eliminations at the 45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida.

Line qualified eighth with a 6.525 second, 212.76 MPH pass. The 32-time Pro Stock winner took the win in Round One of eliminations when teammate Alund left the starting line too soon and illuminated the red light. Line made a solid 6.567/211.30 pass on his way to a second round meeting with Dave Connolly.

While Line ran a quicker and faster 6.568/211.39 against Connolly’s 6.584/210.87, Connolly’s .036 second starting line advantage gave him the win by just 0.203 seconds.

“The driver didn’t do a good job today, but the good news is that the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro got better and better over the course of the weekend,” said Line. “The KB Racing team worked well together this weekend, and hopefully we can pick up momentum heading into the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in a couple of weeks in Las Vegas.”

Line is currently fourth in the Pro Stock series standings.

Alund Focused on Improvement
European Pro Stock champion Jimmy Alund was on par with Summit Racing teammate Jason Line in qualifying at the NHRA Gatornationals. He qualified ninth with a 6.525/212.36, just .40 MPH off of Line’s qualifying pass. The pair met in the opening round of eliminations; Alund jumped off the line by .072 of a second, giving his teammate the automatic win.

“I don’t like the way things went on Sunday,” said Alund. “I always try to cut a light, but it bothers me right now that this happened. Maybe I shouldn’t be too hard on myself, because there are people out here who have been running in this class for a long time, and it took them while before they got that first round win. I’m happy, though. I don’t have any issues driving the car, and as a team, we work well together. I’m looking forward to Las Vegas.”

Alund is currently 13th in the Pro Stock points standings.

Team Summit Driver Doug Kalitta Wins Second Top Fuel Wally
Doug Kalitta defeated Antron Brown in the final round of Top Fuel to win his second national event of the 2014 season. Kalitta qualified fourth (3.819/321.04), and defeated Brittany Force, David Grubnic, and Steve Torrence in the first three rounds of eliminations to reach the final. Antron Brown had the starting line advantage, but went up in tire smoke at the 330-foot mark as Kalitta powered down the track to take the win, 3.830/323.74 to 5.106/147.50.

Kalitta is currently first in the Top Fuel points standings.

Disappointing Pro Mod Start for Kenny Lang
Summit Racing Pro Mod driver Kenny Lang struggled in qualifying at Gainesville. His best run of 6.023/239.82 was well off the pace in a field where 16th place qualifier Dan Stevenson ran a 5.959/243.81.

Team Summit Results: Top Fuel
David Grubnic qualified fifth (3.823/312.78). He defeated Clay Millican in Round One of eliminations, but lost to teammate Doug Kalitta in Round Two.

Team Summit Results: Funny Car
Tim Wilkerson qualified 13th (4.162/297.16). He defeated Chad Head in Round One, but fell to Courtney Force in Round Two.
Del Worsham qualified eighth (4.128/307.23). He defeated Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round One, but lost to John Force in Round Two.
Alexis DeJoria qualified 14th (4.212/286.74), but lost to Jack Beckman in Round One.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel: Doug Kalitta defeated Antron Brown, 3.830/323.74 to 5.106/147.50.
Funny Car: Robert Hight defeated John Force 4.074/314.46 to 6.435/118.29.
Pro Stock: Allen Johnson defeated Erica Enders-Stevens, 6.566/211.73 to 6.551/211.96.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Steve Johnson defeated Scott Pollacheck, 6.912/191.32 to 7.093/190.81.
Pro Modified: Mike Castellana defeated Rickie Smith, 5.865/244.52 to 5.890/245.72.

Next Race
The next event is the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, March 27-30 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Visit http://www.DragRaceCentral.com for more news and in-depth results from the NHRA Gatornationals.