Jason Line remains second in POWERade points heading to St. Louis
MADISON, Ill. (May 2, 2007) – Jason Line hopes the issues with his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac are a thing of the past and this weekend’s 11th annual NHRA O’Reilly Midwest Nationals will be the race that puts the reigning NHRA POWERade Pro Stock back on the road to his second consecutive championship.
According to Line, as he enters the upcoming race, he is trying to rebound from disappointing races at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, last weekend in Atlanta, and the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, several weeks ago, when he exited in the first round each race. But wait, Line is not throwing in the proverbial towel just yet.
“I won’t throw in the towel until there is no opportunity to win a championship and the way this year’s championship format is set up it’s too early in the season and a long way from being over,” said Line. “So don’t count me out.
“I know that we can overcome the gremlins that are causing problems with our Summit Pontiac right now and I know that the driver will rebound from some mental mistakes. How do I know? Because that’s the type of team that KB Racing is. We are out here to win. As you can tell I still have a smile on my face and my attitude is positive.
“As I speak (crew chief) Rob Downing and his guys are working to give me a great car for St. Louis. Hopefully, we’ll find the winner’s circle this weekend.”
That said, it should be noted that what some teams consider a bad season, other would love to be in Line’s position. “I know that we are second in the POWERade point deal and that we should be happy, and really I am, but we have high standards here at KB Racing and high expectations but we don’t want to become complacent when we don’t meet our goals just because we are in second,” added Line.
Line continues to hold down the second spot in points in the first segment of the Countdown to the Championship. He has 390 points, 212 points behind his teammate Greg Anderson who leads all challengers and 19 ahead of third place Jeg Coughlin, 27 ahead of Coughlin’s teammate Dave Connolly, and 92 points in front of Warren Johnson, who moved into the top five after a runner-up finish at Atlanta.
The O’Reilly Midwest Nationals is the seventh of 17 events in the first of three segments that will constitute this year’s Countdown to the Championship. After the 17 regular season races, all teams will continue vying for points, with full field, but only the top eight drivers continue to vie for the championship in the four-race second segment. The top four drivers of the eight in points, after the four-race playoff, then move to third and final segment that will be run over the final two races – the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals in Las Vegas and the NHRA Auto Club Finals in Pomona. One of the four will be crowned the 2007 champion.
