The last time John Force Racing won back-to-back national events was 2007 when John Force won Sonoma and then Brainerd. The last time Hight won back-to-back national events was also 2007 when he started the first part of the season with wins in Las Vegas and then Atlanta. Hight will now head to Dallas where he won in 2006 at the all-concrete Texas Motorplex hoping to duplicate that effort.
Two of the John Force Racing Mustangs were upended in the first round. John Force bounced back from a surprising DNQ at the inaugural event but is still winless at zMax Dragway. His Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang lost traction and was beaten by veteran Jim Head. This was the second race in a row for Force to match up with Head in the opening round. At the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Force got the win over Head.
Force was not terribly upset to be out of the race. As a first round loser he was invited to participate in the four-wide funny car exhibition race prior to the final round today. Force made the most of the race as he finished second to teammate Mike Neff, out running veteran’s Del Worsham and Tim Wilkerson in the show stopping race.
“To be a part of something so exciting almost made losing in the first round OK. When I was doing my burn out I thought this is really cool. I made one of the longest burnouts of my career before that race. I wanted to give the fans a show. Bruton and Marcus Smith have built us this palace to race in and I wanted to thank them for the opportunity to race here. We are in the heart of NASCAR country but we showed a packed house how exciting and unbelievable Full Throttle Drag Racing can be,” said the winningest driver in NHRA history.
Mike Neff and the Ford Drive One Mustang made the most of their exhibition run actually winning the race on a hole-shot over Force. Neff covered the 1000 foot race course in 4.136 seconds while Force’s Mustang tripped the clocks at 4.118 seconds. A three hundredths reaction time advantage spelled doom for Force and victory for Neff. Worsham crossed the finish line in 4.205 seconds followed by Wilkerson’s 4.509 second pass.
“I was actually glad to be a part of the four wide race. That was a lot of fun. That was a little piece of history. That hasn’t been done in a long time. I think that will get a lot of mileage and a lot of ink for Ford. It was awesome having Force there. You had Del (Worsham) and (Tim) Wilkerson; a couple of veterans. For me it was just a lot of fun to be a part of. To be able to technically win it was definitely exciting. Part of me was kind of bummed I lost in the first round because I really wanted to watch it,” said the 2008 rookie of the year. “I know they got some good footage. It will be fun to see. Bruton Smith’s track here and everything that they have done is awesome. To be able to repay them and showcase what they have done here is really cool.”
Neff also had strong feelings about the upside of the Countdown to 1 and his teammates Robert Hight’s performance.
“Robert’s car has been running great and my personal opinion is Robert Hight is the favorite to win the whole thing. It is all about hitting your stride at the right time. They hit their stride in Indy. They ran a good race, got in the Countdown, and then they came here and won. They are up to third in the points and a couple of rounds out of the top spot. They could be the points leader after the next race. The Countdown can benefit you and hurt you. For Robert and guys like myself who are down towards the bottom of the points the Countdown is a great thing,” concluded Neff.
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