Line’s Sonoma Win Marks 200th Pro Stock Win for Chevrolet

Jason Line’s win at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals was a big deal in more ways than one. The victory was his second of 2014, the 33rd of his Pro Stock career, and it earned him a spot in NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship. As icing on the cake, the win was the 200th NHRA Pro Stock win for Chevrolet.

“Winning the 200th was something that is really cool, and I’m proud to represent Chevrolet and be able to have my name on this record,” said Line. “It’s great to give a little something back after all that they’ve done for us and for this class. It’s just a neat deal.”

Line qualified second with a 6.541 second, 211.79 second pass. He defeated Joey Grose in Round One of eliminations, 6.520/212.46 to 6.861/199.35. The run set Low ET and Top Speed of the race.

Line defeated rookie Jonathan Gray in Round Two, 6.545/212.03 to 6.611/211.59 and advanced to the semifinals. Line ran 6.535/212.26 in the semifinals as opponent Dave Connolly had trouble on the race track, slowing to a 16.915/47.85.

Line faced V. Gaines—the same driver Line halted in 2006 to earn his first Sonoma victory—in the final round. Line was out of the gate first and first to the finish line stripe with a 6.548/211.73 to Gaines’ 6.564/211.30.

“I have a really good race car right now,” said Line. “Without question, this is the luckiest I’ve ever been. Sometimes the luck falls your way, and today it did because I had a great hot rod.”

Line moves up to third place in the Pro Stock points standings.

Anderson Moves Closer to Pro Stock Top 10
Greg Anderson made up ground in his quest to break into the Pro Stock Top 10. The driver of the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro qualified fourth with a 6.551/211.93, his best qualifying start of the year. Anderson defeated Larry Morgan in Round One of eliminations with a 6.537/212.33 pass to Morgan’s 6.693/206.64. Anderson lost an extremely close match to Jeg Coughlin in Round Two, 6.558/212.23 to 6.563/211.63. The margin of victory was just .007-second.

Still, Anderson moved to within 18 points of joining the Pro Stock Top 10. With three races to go before the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, he is determined to earn a place in that lineup.

“It is an absolutely obtainable goal, and I’m just a little disappointed that we didn”t get it done today,” said Anderson. “We had a good car today, and we certainly thought we could get a little bit further. It’s going to go down to the end, the fight with Jonathan Gray to get that 10th spot. He wants to be in there as bad as we do. We’ll just have to go to these three races and find out.”

“My teammate Jason Line won today, and that was a feather in the cap for us because it was the 200th win for Chevrolet,” Anderson continued. “We have great cars and we think we can make them even better—I’m very confident."

Team Summit Results: Top Fuel
Doug Kalitta qualified second (3.791/324.20). He defeated Steve Chrisman in Round One of eliminations, but lost to Shawn Langdon in Round Two. Kalitta is currently first in the points standings.
J.R. Todd qualified seventh (3.818/310.20) but lost to Shawn Langdon in Round One. He is currently 10th in the points standings.

Team Summit Results: Funny Car
Tim Wilkerson qualified 13th (4.214/292.33). He defeated Jack Beckman in Round One, but lost to Matt Hagan in Round Two. Wilkerson is currently 10th in the points standings.
Del Worsham qualified eight (4.098/312.57) but lost to Bob Tasca III in Round One. He is currently ninth in the points standings.
Alexis DeJoria qualified 10th (4.129/307.37). She defeated Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon in the first two rounds of eliminations, but lost to John Force in the semifinals. DeJoria is currently sixth in the points standings.

Final Round Results
Top Fuel: Khalid alBalooshi defeated Shawn Langdon, 3.912/309.42 to 4.008/271.35.
Funny Car: Courtney Force defeated John Force, 4.253/296.24 to 4.405/237.05.
Pro Stock: Jason Line defeated V. Gaines, 6.548/211.73 to 6.564/211.30.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: Eddie Krawiec defeated Jerry Savoie, 6.854/193.99 to 6.861/191.29.

Next Race
The next event is the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals, August 1-3 in Seattle, Washington. Go to Drag Race Central for more news and in-depth results from the NHRA Sonoma Nationals.