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POMONA, Calif. --
"You know you have to be close to perfect on the tree or else you're not going to beat him," said Line, who recorded a very quick .005-second reaction time and paired it with a 6.568-second pass at 211.10 mph to defeat Anderson's 6.579, 211.56. "I know how much power he has; he's got the same stuff I have, so it's really who lets their foot off the clutch first. That is a lot of pressure as a driver, which I don't like. But today I was able to do a good job and get it done. It was a fun final round with our Summit Racing Chevy Camaros, but if there's one person I don't want to race in the final, it's him. He wants to win more than any person I've ever met in my life. He's very driven, very motivated. If I'm hiring a racecar driver, he's my guy." With the win, Line claimed the 46th NHRA Pro Stock win of his career in his ninth final at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. It was his fifth Winternationals win and fourth consecutive final at the season-opener. Line began the title quest with low elapsed time and top speed of raceday: a 6.533, 211.69 over Val Smeland's troubled 11.376, 79.29. In the second round, he recorded a 6.558, 210.97 to send rookie Tanner Gray home on a 6.604, 210.18. In the semifinals, Line came up against KB Racing-powered Bo Butner, a six-time finalist who has yet to seal the deal on his first win. Knowing Butner would be plenty eager to get to the final, Line did his job at the starting line to halt his teammate in his tracks. A .019-second reaction time to Butner's .028 provided an early advantage that increased as they approached the last timer on the racetrack. Line scored with a 6.559, 210.97 to Butner's 6.567, 210.90.
Just like last season, the KB Racing drivers and the Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaros were on par with one other throughout the Winternationals weekend. On Friday night, Anderson was the provisional pole-sitter. On Saturday, Line held the honor with the quickest elapsed time. Anderson, though, had top speed of qualifying. On Sunday in Pomona, Line had low elapsed time of every round of eliminations, and Anderson had the fastest speed in two of the four rounds. KB Racing-powered Bo Butner claimed top speed of the second round, and Line recorded top speed of the meet with a 211.69 mph pass in the opening act. The team had clearly done their homework over the off-season, but Line assumed nothing coming into the first race of the year. "No matter what, I always feel like we're behind," said Line. "But I think it's a good way to stay motivated. The rest of this season is going to be more like it was in the carburetor days. The package has tightened up considerably, and these are naturally aspirated engines so the devil is in the details. Whoever does the best job of tuning the chassis and engine is going to be the winner or have the fastest car." For the 41st time in the history of KB Racing, Jason Line and Greg Anderson qualified No. 1 and No. 2 to set the tone for raceday. Low qualifier Line had won from the top spot eight times heading into Sunday, and the team's closing-round battle at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona marked the 200th Pro Stock final round for Summit Racing, including 10 final round appearances acquired by Summit Racing drivers before Anderson joined the fold mid-2004.
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