Not an easy Line to cross
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
For the first four weeks of the season, the rest of the Pro Stock series was standing behind the Line.
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A midseason slowdown dropped Jason Line all the way to fourth after Englishtown, N.J., but things have been looking up for the Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP team.
Jason Line battled Summit Racing teammate Greg Anderson July 26 in the finals of the Fram Autolite Nationals at Sonoma, Calif. Line won the race and sits in third place in the season points standings.
Line enters the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway with three straight finals appearances during the Western Swing, but only one win. That, and a lack of dominant speed, have Line concerned.
"I'm reasonably happy, but I feel like based on our performances (Mike) Edwards has outrun us all year long," Line said. "He's the only one who has outrun us. Even Allen Johnson and Jeg Coughlin have been fast. (Teammate) Greg (Anderson) and I have been a little off with the performance of the car."
Jason Line
Category: Pro Stock
Hometown: Wright, Minn.
Age: 40
2009 Car: Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP
Crew Chief: Rob Downing
Career wins: 19
2009 wins/final rounds: 4/7
Current points standing: Third
Auto Imagery, Inc.
Yet, it was a Line-Anderson final at Sonoma in the last race prior to the Lucas Oil Nationals. Line won the teammate showdown 6.639-6.632 to climb 10 points ahead of second-place Edwards and 70 points behind Coughlin.
Line lost to Edwards in the finals at Seattle and to Johnson in the finals at Denver.
He captured the season opener at Pomona with a victory over Mike Edwards in the final. He followed with another win two events later in Gainesville, Fla., over Allen Johnson.
Jason Line
Line again topped Edwards in Norwalk, Ohio, for his third win of the season.
"I'm pretty stoked about going to Brainerd," the Wright, Minn., native said. "I like coming home. Brainerd is a lot of fun for us. We get a lot of friends and family. I also feel very good about our chances.
"This last week we just freshened up all of our equipment from the Western Swing. We didn't do anything new. We just got everything ready for the next three races before the Countdown."
In 15 events, Line has been knocked out of the first round only twice, has three quarterfinal and three semifinal finishes. He has one No. 1 qualifier and owns a 34-11 round record.
In his six-year career, which includes the 2006 Pro Stock championship, Line has won at least one national event. But, he's never won at BIR.
Last year, he qualified fifth, but fell to Allen Johnson in the quarterfinals. In 2007, he qualified No. 1, but lost to Jeg Coughlin and in 2006, Line qualified No. 2 and advanced to the finals only to miss a title against Dave Connolly.
Expect Line to do everything he can to change that, despite being locked into the Countdown already.
"Nothing changes for me," he said. "It's all about winning races. The current state of the economy it's more important than ever to win. We need the financial help, the points and the momentum to help us win the championship because that's where the big paycheck is.
"We need to go do the same thing we always try to do and that's win races."