Line Makes Semifinals at Indianapolis, Anderson is Number One Qualifier

Jason Line  reached the semifinal round at the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

In Round One of eliminations, Line advanced on a 6.605 second/208.65 MPH pass against Aaron Stanfield, who fouled at the light.

In Round Two, Line faced Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson. It was a close race, but Line took the win 6.598/209.07 to 6.624/208.55.

“I like racing Greg. He is as competitive as they come.” said Line. “With only five more races left, I’m running out of chances. Hopefully we’ll get to race each other a few more times.”

In the semifinal round, Matt Hartford, Harford got the win light with a 6.624/208.84 pass to Line’s 6.605/208.91.

Line remains second in the Pro Stock points standings.

Greg Anderson picked up seven bonus points during qualifying and claimed his 105th Number One Qualifier award. He also set Low ET of the weekend in Round One of eliminations, defeating Val Smeland on a 6.564/208.59 pass to Smeland’s 6.645/208.17.

In Round Two against Jason Line, Anderson had the faster reaction time (.027 seconds) to Line’s .052 RT. But Line had the faster car for the first time all weekend, winning by just .001 second.

“I lost by a thousandth, but it might as well have been a mile,” said Anderson. “We’ve made a lot of strides lately, but you still have to be perfect in every way if you want to win.”

Anderson is currently fifth in the Pro Stock points standings.

In Round One of eliminations, Bo Butner took the win on a 7.395/135.35 pass to Alex Laughlin’s DQ.

In Round Two against Matt Hartford, Butner was faster, but Hartford won on a holeshot (0.011 RT) and a 6.621/206.57 pass to Butner’s 6.616/208.88.

“I would have liked to have done better today,” said Butner. “But you can’t go back, you can only move forward. So, we’ll do that. I see better days for us in the future.”

Butner is sixth in the Pro Stock points standings.

Tim Wilkerson, driver of the Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car, advanced to the semifinals.

Wilkerson, who qualified third, faced part-timer Dave Richards in Round One of eliminations. Wilkerson earned the right to select where in the run order they would meet and opted to be the first pair out. He was victorious with a 3.915/328.62 pass, to Richards’ 8.079/84.91.

In Round Two, Wilkerson took the win against Bob Bode, 4.011/312.78 run to Bode’s 4.005/318.62.

In a very close semifinals match against Jack Beckman, the two drivers were just .008 seconds apart off the starting line. Beckman took the win 3.915/329.10 to Wilk’s 3.914/324.59.

“That last round was so close, you’d almost rather smoke the tires than lose a race that close,” Wilkerson said. “But it’s okay. We’ll keep going and we’re looking forward to the next race.”

Final Round Results
Top Fuel—Shawn Langdon (3.705/326.32) defeated Leah Pruett (5.141/145.75)

Funny Car—Jack Beckman (3.908/327.35) defeated J.R. Todd (3.960/324.28)

Pro Stock—Erica Enders (6.606/208.55) defeated Matt Hartford (6.610/208.59)

Pro Stock Motorcycle­— Scotty Pollacheck (6.790/200.53) defeated Andrew Hines (6.914/197.10)

Low ET: Greg Anderson, 6.549 seconds
Top Speed: Bo Butner, 210.05 MPH

What’s Next
The next event on the 2020 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour is the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, September 25-27 at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida.

Due to COVID-19, the Mello Yellow Drag Race Series event schedule is subject to change. Go to NHRA.com/schedule/2020 to view the current schedule.

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