Line Heads To Vegas Looking For NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Victory
Jason Line has had a roller coaster season thus far but is hoping for an upswing at this weekend's NHRA National Event set for Las Vegas.
Courtesy: NHRA Media Relations
While
the 2006 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world champion has shown
at times he’s certainly capable of adding a second championship crown
to his resume, there are other times when he’s trying simply to hang on
as his season speeds sharply into a double-loop.
The
former head dyno operator for Joe Gibbs Racing on the NASCAR circuit
hopes to turn his fortunes around in the hometown of his team owner Ken
Black, who continues the recovery process after a recent bout with some
health issues.
For
Line, giving Black the Wally from the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals,
April 16-18 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, would be some
very good medicine. It is something he and teammate Greg Anderson will
try very hard to do at the sixth of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series event. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny
Car), and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) are the defending winners of event,
which will be televised on ESPN2 HD.
Line
was impressive earlier in the season when he beat current category
dominator and defending world champ Mike Edwards with a holeshot start
in the final round at the tradition-rich Tire Kingdom Gatornationals at
historic Gainesville Raceway in
On the other side of the coin, he’s suffered first round losses at the season-opening 50th Winternationals as well as last weekend’s event in
It
all totals to a third place position in the point standings as the
circuit heads to Las Vegas, a place where Line has won and his teammate
Anderson has dominated with six wins since 2003. A welcome site for the
team for sure.
“We’ve
shown we have the potential to run with the best in our class, but we
need to do it on every run,” Line said. “It’s something we’ve been
working on non-stop, and I believe we’re making progress. It’s just a
matter of time before we get there, but it can’t come soon enough for
any of us.”
Line
and the rest of the field are trying to catch the runaway locomotive
that is defending world champ Edwards, who has continued his domination
of the category this season. He has posted three wins in four final
rounds in his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP and raced to
four No. 1 qualifying positions. His series lead now stands at 192
points over second place Allen Johnson after a semifinal appearance and
No. 1 qualifying effort at Houston.
“We’re
still chasing Edwards, and although he’s a great guy and we like him,
we’re just tired of him having all the fun,” Line said. “We think it’s
about time we had some fun, but we want to earn the right to do so by
beating him, as well as everybody else, and we’re working hard to do
just that.”
For several seasons Line and
After
such an amazing performance, which no doubt took incredible discipline,
late nights working and much sacrifice for both drivers, one might
think that getting up for yet another championship pursuit would take
some major effort. Line says the team is still hungry. As hungry as
ever.
“Motivation
is certainly not a problem, and never has been,” Line said. “When we
get to the shop each morning our common goal is to find a way to not
only put ourselves back at the top of the page, but to keep us there at
every race. We’re paid to win and that is what we want to do.”
Other
top contenders in the Pro Stock category include Team Mopar’s Johnson,
currently second in the point standings, along with Houston winner Jeg
Coughlin, who has regained his form from last year in the regular
season when he won seven races in his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt. Greg
Stanfield and Bob Yonke also have recently formed a partnership and
proved to have a solid working relationship as both drivers are
anchoring spots in the Full Throttle Top 10.
In
Top Fuel, Cory McClenathan has led the point standings early on with
two victories in his FRAM dragster. The rivalry between seven-time
champ Tony Schumacher and two-time champ Larry Dixon has intensified,
as each driver seems determined this year to add to their championship
trophy collections. Doug Kalitta has returned to the championship hunt
with three runner-up finishes, and Antron Brown is proving that his
first two successful seasons in a 7,000-horsepower dragster was not a
fluke as he is currently fourth in the point standings in his Matco
Tools dragster.
John
Force headlines one of the best feel-good stories of the season, as he
has returned to championship form in his Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford
Mustang. After enduring one of the worst competitive efforts of his
career in 2009, the 14-time world champ is off to a hot start with two
victories this season. His longtime rival, Ron Capps, also is running
well in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger. Force teammates Ashley Force
Hood, and defending world champ Robert Hight, are also among the
pre-race favorites, as well as Houston winner Matt Hagan in the DieHard
Charger, Jack Beckman in the Valvoline/MTS Charger and Bob Tasca in the
Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang.
• SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on April 16 and 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on April 17. Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 18.