BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 6, 2020) – Three-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Jason Line’s Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro was a fierce machine on Sunday at the 66th annual DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals. The driver who intends to hang up his Pro Stock driving gloves at the conclusion of 2020 had been striving to win a trophy from NHRA’s most historic race, but a semifinals finish and a very powerful race car has him lodged deep in the championship battle.
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is slated to have five more events before the champion is crowned. Line is No. 3 after the event and just 11 points out of first.
“My Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro is fantastic,” said Line. “We had a little glitch earlier in the weekend, and that hurt us for sure, but we finally figured it out before second round. The good news is that my car is back to healthy again.”
Line, starting from the No. 9 spot, easily advanced on a red-lighting Aaron Stanfield in the first round, then came head-to-head with Team Summit counterpart Greg Anderson, who had claimed the 105th No. 1 qualifier award of his career and sixth at the prestigious event.
Anderson had been a beast in qualifying, swiping up bonus qualifying points – a total of seven – with the quickest Pro Stocker on the property, and in the first round he continued to dominate with his Summit Racing Camaro laying down a low elapsed time of raceday 6.564-second pass at 208.59 mph.
Heading into the Team Summit side-by-side, Anderson held a 46-36 advantage. The seasoned veteran was off the starting line first with a .027-second reaction time to Line’s .052 in a strong attempt to extend the advantage, but Line had the faster car for the first time all weekend. His 6.598, 209.07 was low of the round and eclipsed his partner’s 6.624, 208.55 by just .001-second for the win.
“I lost by a thousandth, but it might as well have been a mile,” said Anderson. “We’ve made a lot of strides lately with our engine program and our cars, and they’re fast – but you have to be perfect in every way if you want to win.”
Line, who fell to Matt Hartford the next round, was pleased to move on from his meeting with Anderson. But at the end of the day, as there is in any race against teammates, there were mixed emotions.
“I want to see both of us do well, of course, but I honestly felt bad because his car had been so good all weekend,” said Line. “I like racing him – Greg is as competitive as they come – and I’m running out of chances. We have five more races this year, if all goes as planned with the NHRA schedule, and hopefully we’ll get to race each other a few more times.”
The next scheduled is the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, September 25-27, 2020.
Team Summit Driver Results
Jason Line
KB Racing, Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro
Results:
R1: Jason Line defeated Aaron Stanfield, 6.605-second at 208.17 mph to 28.317, 25.84
R2: Line def. Greg Anderson, 6.598, 209.07 to 6.624, 208.55
R3: Matt Hartford def. Line, (.041) 6.624, 208.84 to (.063) 6.605, 208.91
Greg Anderson
KB Racing, Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro
Results:
R1: Greg Anderson defeated Val Smeland, 6.564-second at 208.59 mph to 6.645, 208.17
R2: Jason Line def. Anderson, 6.598, 209.07 to 6.624, 208.55
Bo Butner
KB Racing, Strutmasters.com/Jim Butner Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro
Results:
R1: Bo Butner defeated Alex Laughlin, 7.395-second at 135.35 mph to BROKE
R2: Matt Hartford def. Butner, (.011) 6.621, 206.57 to (.048) 6.616, 208.88
Quote:
“We have a good car with my Strutmasters/Jim Butner Auto Group Chevy Camaro, and that means a lot. I would have liked to have done better today and this weekend overall, especially here. But you can’t really go back, you can only move forward. So, we’ll do that. I see better days for us in the future.”
Low elapsed time of event: Greg Anderson 6.549-second
Top Speed: Bo Butner 210.05 mph
2020 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Standings
(after Pro Stock race 5, the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals)
1. Erica Enders 453
2. Jeg Coughlin 446
3. Jason Line 442
4. Matt Hartford 291
5. Greg Anderson 290
6t. Bo Butner 249
6t. Chris McGaha 249
8. Alex Laughlin 243
9. Kenny Delco 228
10. Deric Kramer 197
**Full results at DragRaceCentral.com**
Nice work Kelly, Thank you!