NHRA Pro StockJason Line |
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Jason Line and his longtime teammate Greg Anderson didn ’ t hide the fact they were two of the staunchest critics of the vast changes to Pro Stock heading into 2016 . Whether it was a pair of veterans who were stuck in their highly-successful ways or legitimate gripes , Line and Anderson quickly moved past it and went to work . What transpired was a dominant season by each , with Line ultimately claiming the final measure of success , his third Pro Stock world championship . While each won eight races and went to 14 finals , it was Line who had control for most of the season . He was the points leader for 22 of the 24 races , posted an incredible 65 round wins and capped off a truly spectacular year in championship fashion , all while not knowing completely what to expect .
“ The unknown is what kills you ,” Line said . “ We knew nothing about fuel injection . The truth is , we ’ re still in its infancy with us . We have a long ways to go , a lot to learn . The gains will be smaller at this point , but there ’ s still gains to be made . It never ends . As long as you believe it never ends , it never does . There ’ s more to gain . We absolutely have to keep going forward and learning more .”
That ’ s Line in a nutshell – quick to savor success , guaranteed not to dwell on it and eager to push forward .
He made a concerted effort to enjoy the moment more this past year , especially as something special started to take shape . Line advanced to the final round at the first eight events , winning five of them , and never really let up , even as the competition
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made major steps down the stretch . The Countdown to the Championship was by no means a breeze , but a win in Charlotte to start gave Line enough cushion to hold off any challengers , the biggest coming from Anderson .
As for how he could possibly top his 2016 , Line isn ’ t about to make any predictions – mostly because he ’ ll be too busy working .
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“ I ’ m not one to , I guess , bask in the glory of the moment ,” Line said . “ But it was a fun year . What we ’ re going to do for an encore , I ’ m not sure . I can tell you this , we ’ re both at work . We ’ re trying to get better . We have lots to do . I think we both are well aware of the fact that it ’ s going to be tougher next year . For whatever reason , we caught everybody off guard with the new rules package . We were able to adapt quicker than they were . Now that they ’ ve had it for a year , next year ’ s going to be tougher .” - JOSH HACHAT DI |
PHOTOS : NHRA / NATIONAL DRAGSTER |