John Force Racing News

John Force Racing
Robert Hight Pre-Race Package

Event: 22nd annual O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals
3rd race of Countdown to 1 and 21st of 24 events in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
Site: Memphis Motorsports Park, Memphis, Tenn.
Dates: October 1-4, 2009

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HIGHT WANTS TO KEEP STREAKING IN MEMPHIS

“This is probably the best race car I have ever had. We have won races and been close to winning the championship but to be this dominant and this consistent and steady. It is going down the track every single run. The only person to beat me was my teammate Ashley Force Hood in the final at Indy,” said Robert Hight.

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Team info at www.johnforceracing.com

Follow John Force Racing at www.twitter.com/jfr_racing

Follow John Force RaceStation store at www.twitter.com/JFRaceStation

Follow Courtney Force at www.twitter.com/courtneyforce

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The Driver

Robert Hight, 40, driver of the Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang, entered the 2009 Countdown to 1 in the 10th spot and he has risen to 1st place in the points with four races remaining. He clinched his Countdown to 1 spot by reaching the finals at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, a feat he accomplished for the fourth year in a row (two wins 2006 and 2008). He is the only Funny Car driver to have led the points each of the last five seasons. He has won the past two Countdown races in Charlotte and Dallas. The 2005 winner of the Auto Club’s Road to the Future award that identifies the Rookie of the Year, he owns the two quickest 1000 foot times in Funny Car history (4.056 and 4.005 seconds) and well as the quickest quarter mile times in Funny Car history (4.646 and 4.636 seconds).

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Robert Hight By the Numbers:

1 – Hight’s position entering the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals, the 3rd Countdown to 1 race

2 – Number of races Hight has won in a row entering the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals

3 – Hight’s position entering the previous week’s O’Reilly Fall Nationals in Dallas

4 – Hight’s finish in the 2008 Full Throttle point standings

5 – Number of points Hight edged out Cruz Pedregon for final Countdown position

7 – Number of positions Hight jumped after first Countdown to 1 race in 2009

10 – Hight’s position entering the Full Throttle Countdown to 1 point standings

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Full Throttle Point Standings two Countdown to 1 races and 20 NHRA events

FUNNY CAR – 1. Robert Hight, AAA Texas Ford Mustang, 2241; 2. Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 2228; 3. Jack Beckman, 2196; 4. Tony Pedregon, 2182; 5. Bob Tasca III, 2170; 6. Ron Capps, 2147; 7. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 2131; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 2129; 9. Mike Neff, Ford Drive One Mustang, 2099; 10. Del Worsham, 2085.

TOP FUEL – 1. Tony Schumacher, 2272; 2. Larry Dixon, 2245; 3. Cory McClenathan, 2218; 4. Antron Brown, 2207; 5. Shawn Langdon, 2188; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 2155; 7. Spencer Massey, 2152; 8. Morgan Lucas, 2124; 9. Doug Kalitta, 2074; 10. Clay Millican, 2062.

PRO STOCK – 1. Mike Edwards, 2288; 2. Jeg Coughlin, 2223; 3. Greg Anderson, 2208; 4. Allen Johnson, 2179; 5. Jason Line, 2177; 6. Greg Stanfield, 2169; 7. Johnny Gray, 2146; 8. Kurt Johnson, 2113; 9. Ron Krisher, 2093; 10. Rickie Jones, 2020.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE – 1. Hector Arana, 2318; 2. Eddie Krawiec, 2291; 3. Andrew Hines, 2207; 4. Matt Smith, 2170; 5. Douglas Horne, 2156; 6. Michael Phillips, 2139; 7. Karen Stoffer, 2127; 8. Shawn Gann, 2125; 9. Craig Treble, 2104; 10. Matt Guidera, 2020.

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TRACK RECORDS:

Top Fuel - 3.825 sec. by Brandon Bernstein, Sept. ’08; 313.88 mph by Bernstein, Sept. ’08
Funny Car - 4.079 sec. by Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, Sept. ’08; 302.28 mph by Melanie Troxel, Sept. ’08
Pro Stock - 6.591 sec. by Allen Johnson, Sept. ’08; 209.17 mph by Greg Anderson, Sept. ’07
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.892 sec. by Chip Ellis, Sept. ’07; 193.21 mph by Ellis, Sept. ’07
(Top Fuel and Funny Car race distance is 1,000 feet; PS and PSM race distance is 1,320 feet)

NATIONAL RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.771 sec. by Tony Schumacher, Oct. ’08, Richmond, Va.; 319.22 mph by Antron Brown, Sept. ’09, Indianapolis
Funny Car - 4.023 sec. by Ron Capps, Feb. ’09, Chandler, Ariz.; 312.13 mph by Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, April ’09, Atlanta
Pro Stock - 6.528 sec. by Greg Anderson, Feb. ’09, Pomona, Calif.; 212.03 mph by Mike Edwards, March ’09, Baytown, Texas
PS Motorcycle – 6.860 sec. by Andrew Hines, May ’09, Madison, Ill.; 197.45 mph by A. Hines, March ’05, Gainesville, Fla.
(Top Fuel and Funny Car race distance is 1,000 feet; PS and PSM race distance is 1,320 feet)

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Race Schedule:

Friday, Oct. 2
Nitro Qualifying: 2:45 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 3
Pro Qualifying: noon and 3:15 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 4
Pre-race ceremonies 10:00 a.m.
Final eliminations 11:00 a.m.

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Television:
Saturday, Oct. 3, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 10:30 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, Oct. 4, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute news magazine show, at 11 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, Oct. 4, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of eliminations at 7 p.m. (ET).

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ROBERT HIGHT

ROBERT HIGHT WANTS TO KEEP STREAKING IN MEMPHIS

MEMPHIS, TN (September 28, 2009) --- The only think hotter than the temperature at the Texas Motorplex last weekend was the performance of Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang.

To say they dominated might be an understatement. They were the number one qualifier, top speed, low elapsed time and race winner in the funny car class. The last time an NHRA funny car team led all those categories Gary Scelzi accomplished the feat in Chicago in 2007. Hight last duplicated this effort his rookie year, 2005, in Denver.

On Sunday Hight dispatched four drivers, three of whom have championship aspirations of their own in 2009. Hight defeated Tim Wilkerson, Ashley Force Hood and finally Jack Beckman in the final plus a driver who logged more frequent flier miles to get to Dallas than all the qualified funny car drivers combined, Leif Helander of Sweden. It was Hight’s second career win at the Texas Motorplex and the 13th of his career moving him past Texas Motorplex owner and former funny car driver Billy Meyer on the all-time funny car win list.

By winning again in 2009 Hight extended a number of career streaks. This is the fifth year in a row that Hight has multiple NHRA victories. It is the fifth year in a row that Hight has led the Funny Car points. It is the third win in a row for John Force Racing (Ashley Force Hood, Mac Tools U.S. Nationals; Hight, Carolinas Nationals and O’Reilly Fall Nationals). Hight knows that he has to keep the pedal to the metal if he wants to start a new streak with Funny Car world championships.

“It’s kind of like it hasn’t hit me yet. Going to the three finals in a row is tough, but we kind of had the kiss of death against us (in Dallas). We were No. 1 qualifier and usually in Funny Car No. 1 qualifier doesn’t do well. To run the table here, it’s just a great tribute to my team. They did such an awesome job. We have four in a row here. It is so exciting as a driver to be able to go back right out next week and maybe keep this streak going and keep what we have rolling because when you’re on a hot streak, you don’t want to go home and celebrate,” said Hight.

“You want to get back in that race car and keep it going. We have two more weeks (in a row). First two races of the Countdown couldn’t have been any better for us, [we] won them both and went from worst to first. It’s very exciting for me but it’s something I never thought was going to happen. I still didn’t ever lose faith in my team. You dream big but this is huge.”

One streak Hight would like to break is his record at Memphis Motorsports Park. In his previous four appearances Hight has advanced to the semi-final round but never beyond that point. He also has three No. 1 qualifying efforts to his credit at the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals.

“I love racing in Memphis. Sanyo, one of our big sponsors, has a great presence in Memphis and I have qualified really well there in the past. I have reached the semis the past four years and hopefully this year we can break that streak and extend our winning streak. It won’t be easy there are so many good teams out there. You have to be on your game every time you go down the track. Jimmy and my guys have been awesome for the past month,” said Hight.

Hight is a mere 13 points ahead of teammate Ashley Force Hood. With the new qualifying bonus point system that kind of cushion is negligible. Starting with the Countdown to 1 this season points are awarded each qualifying session to the three quickest drivers of the session. The 3-2-1 bonus points have tightened up the point standings making every run down the track a critical situation for every team.

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COUNTDOWN STATS

John Force Racing drivers head to head statistics with the rest of the Countdown to 1 qualifiers. Updated to include Dallas stats

AFH JF MN RH

1. Tony Pedregon 5-11 53-23 3-6 6-13 67-53

2. Ron Capps 6-6 41-21 2-3 12-8 61-38

3. Ashley Force Hood ----- 3-3 1-5 5-3 9-11

4. Bob Tasca III 5-1 3-3 2-3 2-2 12-9

5. Jack Beckman 3-3 5-10 2-2 5-5 15-20

6. Tim Wilkerson 3-6 25-8 4-8 6-5 38-27

7. John Force 3-3 ----- 3-1 8-7 14-11

8. Del Worsham 9-3 44-21 0-1 11-5 64-30

9. Mike Neff 5-1 1-3 ----- 3-3 7-7

10. Robert Hight 3-5 7-8 3-3 ----- 13-16

Totals 42-39 182-100 20-31 58-51

John Force Racing drivers head to head statistics final rounds only with the rest of the Countdown to 1 qualifiers.

AFH JF MN RH

1. Tony Pedregon 0-3 12-10 0-0 0-3 12-16

2. Ron Capps 0-2 7-5 0-1 2-0 9-3

3. Ashley Force Hood ----- 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-2

4. Bob Tasca III 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1

5. Jack Beckman 1-1 1-1 0-0 2-1 4-3

6. Tim Wilkerson 0-2 2-2 0-2 0-0 2-4

7. John Force 1-0 ----- 0-0 0-2 1-2

8. Del Worsham 0-1 6-6 0-0 0-0 6-7

9. Mike Neff 0-0 0-0 ----- 0-0 0-0

10. Robert Hight 1-0 2-0 0-0 ----- 3-0

Totals 3-9 30-25 0-4 4-7

Get team info here: www.johnforceracing.com

Follow John Force Racing at www.twitter.com/jfr_racing