"Going into the final, we knew it was going to be a great day for the Summit Racing team, with one of our cars guaranteed to go to the winner's circle" said Line. "I really did want Greg to get his first win of the year, because he's been awfully good to me. After all, he's the one who gave me the opportunity when no one else would, and without him I wouldn't be driving this Summit Racing Pontiac. So in that respect, it was bittersweet to beat him.

"At the same time, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and even though he has struggled a little this year, I still think Greg is the guy. Looking at it that way, it was great to win. I struggled a little in the first two rounds, but we were still able to fight our way back and get the Wally. This was a big win for our entire KB Racing team - I guess you could call it birthday karma."

After having a consistently quick car throughout qualifying, Line and his KB Racing crew looked to continue the stellar performance they had displayed over the last three races, where they had scored one win and two final round appearances. Things went according to plan in the first round, as the 2006 Pro Stock champion opened by resetting the track record for elapsed time at 6.561 seconds in his first round defeat of V. Gaines. Using another solid 6.605-second, 209.49 mph pass to eliminate Johnny Gray in the second round, Line then squared off against archrival Jeg Coughlin, making the third consecutive week the two had met in the semifinals.

Just as he had in the previous two encounters, Line was up to the task, using his best light of the day at .020 to leave the line two hundredths of a second ahead of his opponent and never looked back, using a solid 6.612-second, 209.23 mph pass to trailer Coughlin, who posted a quicker 6.605-second elapsed time in the losing effort. This set the stage for the encounter with his tea mmate, marking the 12th time the two would meet in the championship round, and first time since this same race in 2007.

"I have to thank my Summit Racing crew for giving me a great car, the best one I have ever had to drive," said Line. "It doesn't go right or left - it goes straight on every run, and thankfully we've been able to cash in on it over the last few weeks. I'm also pleased that I was able to pick up my driving in the last two rounds when I needed it, although I'm going to work on avoiding hiccups like those I had in the first two rounds.

"Still, all things considered, this was a great win for the entire team, and a tremendous motivator heading into the two weeks before Brainerd. As I have said before, this has been a good20year, and we have the ability to make it a great one, but we have to get better. More than anything, I'm looking forward to going home and spending time with my kids, but I also excited to get back to the shop and start working on some of our projects. I really believe it's only going to get better."

Established in 1968, Summit Racing Equipment is the leading high performance parts and accessories company. Summit Racing offers the largest selection, lowest prices, and best customer service in the high performance industry via catalogs, Internet, and Retail Super Stores. The company is headquartered in Tallmadge, Ohio with retail locations in Tallmadge, Ohio; Sparks, Nevada; and McDonough, Georgia. For more information, please visit http://www.summitracing.com

Courtesy of Jon Knapp