Semifinal Finishes for Anderson and Line at Lucas Oil Nationals

Greg Anderson and Jason Line made semifinal finishes at 36th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota, laying the groundwork for a powerful finish to the regular season at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in less than two weeks.

Greg Anderson had what was arguably the best Pro Stocker on the property on Sunday. He set Low Elapsed Time and Top Speed of the Meet in Round One of eliminations, making a 6.588 second, 209.20 MPH pass to defeat Deric Kramer, who ran a 6.691/206.48.

Anderson made another 6.5 second pass in Round Two, using a .019 second reaction time to take the win over Allen Johnson, 6.594/208.30 to 6.628/207.21. Anderson was the only driver to record passes in the 6.5-second zone.

Anderson's hunt for the Lucas Oil Nationals trophy halted at the starting line in the semifinals when he cut a .027 second red light in the matchup with Bo Butner. Butner advanced to the final round with a 6.642/207.37 to Anderson’s 6.636/207.88.

“I had the best day I’ve had in a long time,” said Anderson. “I absolutely, positively, should have won this race. For some reason, I thought I saw the light but didn’t. I wish I could have it back. You have to go up there every time trying to kill the tree because you know the guy in the other lane is too. We have to get this deal figured out before the Countdown [to the Championship] starts, and I think we got a good start today.”

Anderson is currently third in the Pro Stock points standings.

Following a strong qualifying performance Wright, Minnesota native Jason Line met John Gaydosh in Round One of eliminations. Gaydosh was first out of the gate, but Line had the horsepower to overcome the deficit and skirted across the finish line with a strong 6.621/ 207.75 to Gaydosh’s 6.704/205.51.

In Round Two, the reigning Pro Stock world champ blasted off the starting line with a .014 reaction time and paired it with a 6.624/207.27 pass to top Drew Skillman's 6.628/208.20. Rookie of the Year contender Tanner Gray put an end to Line’s day in the semifinals, taking the win with a 6.620/207.56 to Line's 7.140/159.89.

“I feel like we made some progress today with our Summit Racing Chevy Camaros,” said Line. “That's a little bit painful sometimes, but all-in-all, it was still a decent day for us. I think we’re going the right way, and now is the time to do that.”

Line is currently fourth in the Pro Stock points standings.

In other Line family racing news, Jason’s brother Ben Line took the win in Stock Eliminator in Brainerd. Ben drives a 1969 Mustang in C/SA. He defeated Johnny Diekema; Trista Fenner; Ronald Feist; Brett Spee;, Cal Method; and Dan Jeska to reach the final against Bill Feist. Line ran .013 of a second over his dial-in (10.533 on a 10.52), good enough to take the win over Feist, who ran 0.21 of a second over his dial-in (10.101 on a 10.08). Congratulations Ben!

Bo Butner reached the final round for the eighth time this season and 14th time in his career in Brainerd. He defeated Dave River, Shane Gray, and Greg Anderson to reach the final against Tanner Gray. Gray launched first and held on for the win with a 6.610/208.04 to Butner’s 6.629/ 207.85.

"Believe it or not, I would have been happy if Greg had won [in the semifinals] because he would have had a great shot at winning this race for KB Racing," said Butner. "But this weekend, we found a couple of things with the cars. That's very good news for us."

Butner is currently first in the Pro Stock points standings.

No NHRA competitor ever wants Sunday to be a short day, but that was what Tim Wilkerson and his Levi, Ray & Shoup team had to stomach at the Lucas Oil Nationals. Wilkerson qualified seventh, his highest position since Englishtown. He met up with Alexis Dejoria in Round One of eliminations. He was on his game at the hit of the throttle, leaping out of the gate with a .017 second advantage. The tires shook almost immediately, and Wilkerson could not make up enough ground to catch Dejoria, who took the win with a 4.416/210.05 to Wilkerson’s 4.650/ 271.13

“The car was just too weak going past the tree, so the clutch grabbed and it shook,” said Wilkerson. “The track got better, and I didn’t hit it hard enough. That’s just part of this whole deal. I have the power-to-clutch ratio off, so that’s one of the things we’ll be working on for Indy.”

Wilkerson is currently eighth in the Funny Car points standings.

Wilkerson and his team will not be testing before the U.S. Nationals, so they will pick up where they left off at the most historic and prestigious race on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour. In addition to vying for the Indy title, Wilkerson is hoping for a shot to win a trophy and the $100,000 prize in Traxxas Nitro Shootout, a special bonus race that will take place during qualifying at the U.S. Nationals. Funny Car drivers must secure as many fan votes as possible to earn a spot in the Shootout; the number of votes determines how many ‘lottery balls’ each driver gets for the Traxxas Shootout drawing. The drawing will take place during a press conference for the U.S. Nationals on August 30th in downtown Indianapolis.

You can vote for Wilkerson here. 

What's Next
The next event in NHRA's 2017 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, August 30-September 4. The event will mark the conclusion of the regular season before the Countdown to the Championship six-race playoffs begins in Charlotte the second week of September. Visit Drag Race Central for complete results from the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.