Worst to first: Hight's Cinderella story goes on
Craig Wack, Senior Editor
Sunday, 27 September 2009
 Robert Hight |
Robert Hight hopes that midnight never comes for his Cinderella story.
Hight, driver of the AAA Ford Mustang Funny Car, won his second consecutive event on Sunday at the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Nationals at Texas Motorplex outside of Dallas.
"It's unbelievable, it hasn't hit me yet," Hight said. "We thought we had the kiss of death on us this week by being the No. 1 qualifier. Usually No. 1 qualifier doesn't do well. To run the table here is a tribute to my team. They did an awesome job.
Other winners on the day included Tony Schumacher in Top Fuel, Greg Anderson in Pro Stock and Hector Arana in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
In the process of winning, Hight captured the points lead after barely qualifying for the Countdown to 1 and starting the playoffs in 10th place two races ago.
"It's very exciting for me," Hight added. "I never lost faith in my team, but I never thought this would happen. You dream big, but this is huge."
Hight's AAA Ford Mustang has been nearly unstoppable since coming to life at Indianapolis earlier this month. Against Beckman's Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger, Hight ran a 4.218 second pass at 296.44 mph to Beckman's 4.271 at 292.58 mph.
"This is probably the best race car I've ever had," Hight said. "We've won races, been close to winning the championship, but to be this dominant and this consistent ... Jimmy Prock has a handle on this car."
Hight now leads teammate Ashley Force Hood by 13 points heading into next week's race at Memphis.
"We're in the middle of four races in a row here, it's exciting know that we're going to be able to go out and maybe keep this streak going," Hight said. "When you are on a roll like this you don't want to go back and celebrate. You want to get back in that race car and keep it going."
 Hector Arana |
Arana used pure horsepower on his Lucas Oil Buell to defeat Ed Krawiec's Screamin Eagle Harley-Davidson, pick up this third straight victory and extend his points lead over Krawiec.
“I’m really pleased with the performance of the bike and this S&S motor,” Arana said. “It's a helluva piece, and (Pro Stock driver) Larry Morgan's guys are working hard to keep me winning rounds and races and the title, something we've always dreamed of."
Krawiec left first with a .017 reaction time to Arana's .033. However, the Buell kicked in and Arana finished with a 6.979 at 190.67 mph with Krawiec inches behind with a 7.005 at 190.43 mph.
"My team never slowed down, even in 90 degrees of heat," Arana said. "It's amazing how everything has turned around for me to win five races this season; now I just need to win three more and I'll be good.”
Arana leads defending world champ Krawiec by 27 points and Andrew Hines is in third, 111 points back.
 Tony Schumacher |
Schumacher had the best of all outcomes on Saturday, he beat nemesis Larry Dixon and the Al-Anabi Racing team, took the points lead and was able to take the Wally trophy home for his son Anthony, who turned 8 on Sunday.
The U.S. Army dragster peeled off a 3.944 at 312.86 mph lap in the right lane (which teams generally avoided all weekend) to beat Dixon's 4.232 at 225.18 mph.
"This was absolutely huge for us," Schumacher said. "After getting stuffed in that right lane, that was just huge for us. (Crew chief) Mike Green made a great call, and we just went straight down that right lane."
Schumacher said his reconstructed team is eager to prove it can win a championship without the help of former crew chief Alan Johnson.
"The guys want to win the world title in the worst way," he said. "They're really digging down deep when it counts the most. We only have four races left so you better be on your game each and every run or else you're going to be eliminated from contention."
Schumacher leads Dixon by 27 points and teammate Cory McClenathan by 54.
 Greg Anderson |
Anderson was able to make up a little ground on Pro Stock points leader Mike Edwards.
“I can't remember stealing one like we did today,” Anderson said. “I didn't exactly wake up this morning brimming with confidence because Mike Edwards is making us all look bad."
Anderson's Summit Racing Pontiac GXP beat Edwards' Young Life Pontiac GXP in the semifinals. Anderson went on to defeat Johnny Gray in the finals with a 6.684 second pass at 207.11 mph to Gray's run of 6.713 at 206.64 mph in his Dodge.
"We like to be the performance leader and we're not, and it's driving us nuts," Anderson said. "It certainly wouldn't have been a big shock to exit early today. We just fought and clawed and found a way to win all four rounds and, honestly, if we had another first-round loss today we probably would have been done for the Countdown.”
Anderson is now 80 points behind the leader Edwards and 15 behind second-place Jeg Coughlin Jr.
SUNDAY'S RESULTS
Top Fuel
ROUND ONE -- Brandon Bernstein, 3.948, 275.56 def. Steve Torrence, 5.376, 44.62; Spencer Massey, 3.931, 305.42 def. Bob Vandergriff, 3.911, no speed; Shawn Langdon, 3.911, 309.13 def. Clay Millican, 4.051, no speed; Antron Brown, 3.911, 312.78 def. Terry Haddock, 3.985, 300.20; Larry Dixon, 3.884, 308.64 def. Mike Bowers, 4.170, 234.78; Morgan Lucas, 4.188, 215.20 def. Mike Strasburg, 5.625, 124.56; Tony Schumacher, 3.884, 316.60 def. T.J. Zizzo, 4.627, 173.65; Cory McClenathan, 4.127, 265.95 def. Doug Kalitta, 5.150, 147.65; QUARTERFINALS -- Massey, 3.942, 304.67 def. Lucas, 4.758, 161.96; Langdon, 4.236, 237.96 def. McClenathan, 4.403, 190.14; Dixon, 3.938, 308.85 def. Bernstein, 3.954, 309.70; Schumacher, 3.915, 315.49 def. Brown, 4.113, 266.00; SEMIFINALS -- Dixon, 3.957, 308.28 def. Langdon, 5.037, 154.92; Schumacher, 3.960, 310.91 def. Massey, 4.363, 219.44;
FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.944, 312.86 def. Dixon, 4.232, 225.18.
Funny Car
ROUND ONE -- Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 4.241, 292.77 def. Matt Hagan, Charger, 5.704, 124.03; Bob Tasca III, Ford Mustang, 4.177, 297.22 def. Tony Pedregon, Chevy Impala, 4.300, 266.69; Jerry Toliver, Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.277, 290.38 def. Jeff Arend, Toyota Solara, 4.920, 211.06; Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.202, 297.75 def. Leif Helander, Chevy Camaro, 5.889, 131.65; John Force, Mustang, 4.250, 300.53 def. Grant Downing, Monte Carlo, 5.008, 160.50; Ashley Force Hood, Mustang, 4.197, 296.89 def. Del Worsham, Solara, 4.631, 232.87; Mike Neff, Mustang, 4.294, 286.50 def. Cruz Pedregon, Solara, 4.772, 179.28; Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 4.212, 288.64 def. Ron Capps, Charger, 4.685, 222.33; QUARTERFINALS -- Beckman, 4.219, 294.11 def. Force, 4.271, 289.63; Hight, 4.224, 295.01 def. Wilkerson, 4.311, 283.49; Toliver, 4.354, 289.45 def. Tasca III, 4.588, 261.17; Force Hood, 4.245, 296.83 def. Neff, 4.582, 199.26; SEMIFINALS -- Beckman, 4.546, 218.55 def. Toliver, 4.555, 214.01; Hight, 4.270, 288.46 def. Force Hood, 5.984, 108.80; FINAL -- Hight, 4.218, 296.44 def. Beckman, 4.271, 292.58.
Pro Stock
ROUND ONE -- Ron Krisher, Chevy Cobalt, 6.681, 207.53 def. Greg Stanfield, Pontiac GXP, foul; Johnny Gray, Dodge Stratus, 6.673, 207.30 def. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.723, 207.27; Rodger Brogdon, GXP, 6.691, 206.95 def. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.688, 207.27; Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.680, 206.89 def. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.695, 207.66; Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.666, 207.40 def. Tom Hammonds, Cobalt, 6.699, 206.32; Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.629, 208.14 def. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.751, 204.23; Matt Hartford, Stratus, 6.751, 205.04 def. Jason Line, GXP, 6.697, 205.98; Jeg Coughlin, Cobalt, 6.681, 206.76 def. Steve Spiess, Cobalt, 6.705, 206.13; QUARTERFINALS -- Coughlin, 6.676, 207.40 def. Brogdon, 6.692, 206.83; Gray, 6.699, 207.08 def. Hartford, foul; Anderson, 6.676, 207.40 def. A. Johnson, 6.668, 206.99; Edwards, 6.626, 208.65 def. Krisher, 6.662, 207.69; SEMIFINALS -- Gray, 6.719, 207.02 def. Coughlin, 10.181, 91.82; Anderson, 6.689, 207.37 def. Edwards, 13.595, 54.40; FINAL -- Anderson, 6.684, 207.11 def. Gray, 6.713, 206.64.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
ROUND ONE -- Angie McBride, Buell, 7.130, 185.61 def. Shawn Gann, Buell, foul; David Hope, Buell, 7.119, 184.85 def. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.102, 185.66; Michael Phillips, Suzuki, 7.041, 190.92 def. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.266, 184.02; Douglas Horne, Buell, 7.094, 186.38 def. Mike Berry, Buell, foul; Matt Smith, Suzuki, 7.071, 187.63 def. Junior Pippin, Buell, 7.134, 186.36; Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.038, 188.67 def. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.144, 184.02; Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.024, 187.78 def. Redell Harris, Buell, 7.200, 181.13; Hector Arana, Buell, 6.949, 190.75 def. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki, 10.978, 76.93; QUARTERFINALS -- Smith, 6.997, 189.34 def. Horne, 7.068, 191.35; Hines, 6.985, 192.17 def. Phillips, foul; Krawiec, 6.997, 190.51 def. McBride, 7.083, 186.74; Arana, 6.954, 192.47 def. Hope, foul; SEMIFINALS -- Krawiec, 7.004, 188.86 def. Smith, 7.069, 186.74; Arana, 7.037, 188.44 def. Hines, foul; FINAL -- Arana, 6.979, 190.67 def. Krawiec, 7.005, 190.43.
FULL THROTTLE POINTS
Top Fuel
1. Tony Schumacher, 2,272; 2. Larry Dixon, 2,245; 3. Cory McClenathan, 2,218; 4. Antron Brown, 2,207; 5. Shawn Langdon, 2,188; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 2,155; 7. Spencer Massey, 2,152; 8. Morgan Lucas, 2,124; 9. Doug Kalitta, 2,074; 10. Clay Millican, 2,062.
Funny Car
1. Robert Hight, 2,241; 2. Ashley Force Hood, 2,228; 3. Jack Beckman, 2,196; 4. Tony Pedregon, 2,182; 5. Bob Tasca III, 2,170; 6. Ron Capps, 2,147; 7. John Force, 2,131; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 2,129; 9. Mike Neff, 2,099; 10. Del Worsham, 2,085.
Pro Stock
1. Mike Edwards, 2,288; 2. Jeg Coughlin, 2,223; 3. Greg Anderson, 2,208; 4. Allen Johnson, 2,179; 5. Jason Line, 2,177; 6. Greg Stanfield, 2,169; 7. Johnny Gray, 2,146; 8. Kurt Johnson, 2,113; 9. Ron Krisher, 2,093; 10. Rickie Jones, 2,020.
Pro Stock Motorcycle
1. Hector Arana, 2,318; 2. Eddie Krawiec, 2,291; 3. Andrew Hines, 2,207; 4. Matt Smith, 2,170; 5. Douglas Horne, 2,156; 6. Michael Phillips, 2,139; 7. Karen Stoffer, 2,127; 8. Shawn Gann, 2,125; 9. Craig Treble, 2,104; 10. Matt Guidera, 2,020.
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