(Image/NHRA)
Team Summit and the boys at KB Racing seem to have a leg up on the competition in this new era of EFI Pro Stock racing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Jason Line hoisted his 41st career Wally Sunday at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park after running through a field of drivers who are still trying to get a handle on the switch to fuel-injected engines. The NHRA Nationals in Phoenix, AZ was the second race of the season, and the second-consecutive win for Team Summit as Line’s teammate Greg Anderson took the crown two weeks ago in Pomona, CA. Even Bo Butner, Line’s longtime friend who is also using a KB Racing engine, got in on the action with the weekend’s low ET in Pro Stock with his 6.59 pass.
In Top Fuel, Leah Pritchett raced to her first career victory Sunday, and Tim Wilkerson took the trophy in Funny Car.
Line beat Chris McGaha for the Pro Stock victory with a 6.666 at 205.16 miles per hour in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro, while McGaha’s Camaro posted a 6.671 at 208.75 in the runner-up effort. It was Line’s second consecutive final round appearance of the season and it puts him atop the series points lead.
Line defeated Matt Hartford and Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the first two rounds and then was able to gain back team bragging rights by outrunning teammate Anderson in the semis. Line lost to Anderson in the Pomona final two weeks ago.
“It was a fun day, a great way to start the year,” said Line of his second Phoenix victory in four final round appearances at this event. “We are off to a much better start this year.”
In Top Fuel, Pritchett used a quicker reaction time and a performance of 3.775 seconds at 323.12 mph in her Quaker State dragster to finish in front of Brittany Force’s 3.774 at 321.35 in her Monster Energy dragster. It was the first all-female Top Fuel final since Shirley Muldowney defeated Lucille Lee in 1982 in Columbus, OH. It is only the fourth time two women have decided a pro class victory in the Mello Yello Series. Angelle Sampey and Karen Stoffer have met twice in finals in Pro Stock Motorcycle, most recently at Norwalk last season.
Pritchett outran J.R. Todd, Clay Millican and Antron Brown in the first three rounds before defeating Force in the final. She is the 16th woman to win a Mello Yello Series race and the eighth female to win in the Top Fuel category.
“It is the happiest day of my life, besides getting married of course,” said Pritchett, who posted a runner-up finish in her only other Top Fuel final, last season at Atlanta. “This is what dreams are made of.
“I feel like I just won the Super Bowl, even though it’s only the second race and it’s not the U.S. Nationals, for me it’s an incredible personal and professional victory to be able to compete with the team that I’m with.”
Pritchett moved to fifth in the points standings with the win. Event top qualifier Doug Kalitta, who lost a close race to Force in the semis, is the points leader, eight ahead of Winternationals winner Steve Torrence, who was upset in the opening round.
In Funny Car, Wilkerson earned his 19th career victory and first at Phoenix, taking out longtime rival John Force with a run of 3.937 at 320.43 in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang. Force trailed with a 4.016 at 275.34 in his Peak Chevy Camaro.
Wilkerson made it past Robert Hight in semis and also knocked off Chad Head in the opening round and took out series points leader and event top qualifier Ron Capps in the second round.
“I am just happy to be here,” said Wilkerson, who moves to fifth in the points order with the win. “We’re very excited about what happened here today. That’s the best run we had all weekend [in the final].”
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues March 17-20 with the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Florida’s Gainesville Raceway.
Sunday’s race was the second of 24 scheduled for the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Pro Stock Championship Point Standings
1. Jason Line 227 2. Greg Anderson 209 3. Bo Butner 171 4. Drew Skillman 131 5. Chris McGaha 129
Funny Car Championship Point Standings
1. Ron Capps 183 2. John Force 168 3. Robert Hight 158 4. Del Worsham 154 5. Tim Wilkerson 147
Top Fuel Championship Point Standings
1. Doug Kalitta 171 2. Steve Torrence 163 3. Brittany Force 133 4. Clay Millican 131 5. Leah Pritchett 129
The NHRA and Drag Race Central contributed to this report.
[…] is currently seventh in the Top Fuel point standings. Pritchett is 10th, but won her first career Mello Yello series national event in February at the NHRA Nationals in Phoenix, […]