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At the end of August Robert Hight took a quick trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to promote the 26th annual AAA Texas Fall Nationals and take in a little baseball. Hight met with Texas Rangers ace CJ Wilson and the pair of SoCal residents talked motorsports, baseball and the play-offs. The Rangers are on the verge of clinching the American League West for the second year in a row and Hight is already in the midst of his own play-off run.
In Charlotte Hight and his Auto Club team did not get off to a fast start but like Hight and Wilson both agreed outside the Rangers’ locker room in late August it is not who starts hot it is who ends hot that most likely wins the championship.
“Talking with CJ was really interesting. There are a lot of similarities between pitching and racing. You have to concentrate so hard in both disciplines but you also have to have a very short memory. As a pitcher if a hitter hits a homerun off you then you have to forget about that right away and not let that affect your next pitch. It is the same in the Countdown,” said Hight who slipped from No. 3 to No. 5 in the point standings. “We did not have a good race in Charlotte but I have forgotten about that. We tested on Monday and now I am looking at the AAA Fall Nationals as a chance to get bonus points in qualifying and going rounds on Sunday.”
Hight is just 10 points (less than a round) behind Jack Beckman in 4th place. The gap is a little more substantial between Hight and Hagan who sits in second place, 84 points. Drivers can earn qualifying bonus points and with a good qualifying effort Hight could earn a full round on Hagan by picking up five more points in qualifying. On an all-concrete track like the Texas Motorplex quick times will be available for the taking.
“I love racing at the Texas Motorplex for a couple of reasons. It is the first super track to there is some history at the Ennis track. I have won that race a couple of times and it is a great feeling because the Texas fans are so great. This is also my sponsor’s race so I want to give the AAA Texas people a great show and bring them into the winner’s circle with my AAA Texas Ford Mustang,” said Hight.
“Finally, this is the 60th anniversary of the NHRA and the Texas legends are Raymond Beadle, Kenny Bernstein and Billy Meyer. These guys are the real deal when it comes to Funny Car and I want to make them proud of our class. We have some of the baddest hot rods at John Force Racing but also the class is really tough.”
Hight like most of the competitors was impressed by Matt Hagan’s record performance at zMax Dragway last weekend and he knows that in order to make a move up the point standings he will have to battle not just Hagan but his Don Schumacher Racing teammates as well as the Pedregon brothers, Jeff Arend, Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca III.
“It may sound like a broken record but top to bottom the Funny Car class has never been tougher. Matt Hagan won for the first time this season last week. Beckman has won a couple times. Mike Neff has been dominant. Anybody can win one of these races so you have to be totally focused,” said Hight a world class marksman. “That is another thing I talked with CJ about was how he blocks out distractions. At this time of the season you need to be focused on your team and your personal performance. This is what we live for. You want to do everything right.”
John Force Racing is on the verge of winning its 2,000th round of Funny Car racing and the entire team will celebrate that feat. Currently JFR sits at 1,996 round wins.
“If we all qualify and then win first round we’ll be one away from 2,000. I would love to get the 2,000th round win for JFR but really that would mean that I was going to the semi-finals and would be getting round wins. That is what it is all about,” concluded Hight,
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JFR history @ THE TEXAS MOTORPLEX:
Wins – 13. Seven by John Force for Castrol GTX (1992-1995, 1999-2000, 2005); two by Robert Hight for the Auto Club of Southern California (2006 and 2009); two by Tony Pedregon for Castrol SYNTEC (1996, 2003); one by Gary Densham for the Auto Club (2001) and one by Ashley Force Hood for Castrol GTX (Top Alcohol Dragster, 2004).
Last year – After qualifying only ninth, John Force upset teammate Robert Hight in round one and went to the final round for the second time in three Countdown races before losing to Matt Hagan.
Notable #1 – Robert Hight has qualified his Auto Club Ford No. 1 a category-best 38 times over the last six seasons. Although he’s won just five times from the front of the pack, he’s done so twice at the Motorplex (2006 and 2008).
Notable #2 – John Force’s 1992 final round race with Cruz Pedregon was one of the sport’s classics. Trying to chase down Pedregon, who had taken over the points lead, he hit the guardwall not one time, not two times, but three times in losing a final round showdown despite the fact that the first impact automatically disqualified him.
Notable #3 – It was at the 1997 Castrol Nationals, a spring race no longer contested at The Motorplex, that Force was involved in another bizarre incident in a race with Ray Higley. Force had won the heat handily and was decelerating when Higley lost control beyond the finish line and hit his car from behind. The incident inflicted only minor damage to the car and Force went on to runner-up honors.
Notable #4 – At the 1989 Fall Nationals, Force was involved in a first round race with Ed McCulloch, now crew chief for Ron Capps but then one of the premier drivers in the Funny Car division. Both cars lost traction at the start and, out of control, were obscured by tire smoke. Obviously one car hit the guardwall and NHRA initially ruled that it was Force who did so. The sport’s biggest winner refused to get off the track until NHRA officials checked McCulloch’s car body, which was found to have impact damage while Force’s had none. Force was re-instated but lost in the following round to eventual series champion Bruce Larson.
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JFR Countdown to…..
2000 NHRA Full Throttle round wins
Having already become the first team to earn 200 NHRA tour victories in a single racing category, John Force Racing can reach 2,000 overall round wins at this week’s 26th annual AAA Texas Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. Entering the second race in the Countdown to 1 playoffs, JFR drivers had won 1,996 racing rounds in the Full Throttle Series.
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