Jason Line and the Summit Racing team came into the second day of qualifying for the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals determined to take full advantage of the tremendous conditions and improve their starting position for Sunday. Although the temperatures were slightly elevated from the day before, there was still the potential for the national elapsed time record to be lowered even further, with teams challenged to find the perfect set-up.
Of twenty-one cars making an attempt in the at Gainesville Raceway, Line came the closest to setting a new mark, with his 6.496-second, 212.49 mph pass in the morning session coming within one thousandth of the quickest time ever recorded. This not only moved the Troutman, NC resident into the fourth starting position, it also allowed him to join the select group of four Pro Stock drivers in the 6.4-second range. Although he was slowed by a mechanical issue on his final attempt, he was still pleased with his overall performance and looked forward to defending his Gatornationals title on Sunday.
“After struggling a little bit on Friday, this KB Racing team did a great job today,” said Line. “We made some changes based on what we saw from yesterday’s data, and our Summit Racing Pontiac really responded, making a really nice run in the morning session, and was on another good run in the afternoon when we had a mechanical problem that we should be able to easily correct.
“I feel good going into race day, but we’re not about to be overconfident. The competition is so close in Pro Stock that any of the qualified cars could win, so we need to be on top of our game from the start. We’ve been fortunate enough to win this race the last two years, and I believe between Greg (teammate Anderson) and I, we have two cars capable of getting the job done tomorrow. It’s just up to us to make it happen.”
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