With the forecast calling for high heat and humidity for the rest of the weekend, the 23 Pro Stock racers attempting to make the field at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals looked to take advantage of Friday’s 70 degree temperatures and claim their place on Sunday’s final eliminations ladder.
After struggling during the opening day at their last few races, Jason Line and his Summit Racing team reversed that trend at Heartland Park Topeka, stepping up in the evening session to post a 6.682-second time, good enough for seventh with two attempts remaining on Saturday. Although pleased to be in a favorable position, the 2006 champion acknowledged their work had just begun.
“I’m going to sleep a lot better than I did last Friday night,” said Line. “Although we left a couple hundredths on that run, I’m happy our Summit Racing Pontiac got down the track and into the field. We still have a lot of work to do, because we didn’t run up to our expectations, but we have something to work with tomorrow, when conditions will be similar to what we’ll have on race day. We’re not going to fix this overnight, so we’re pleased to make some progress, but we know what we have to do.”
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