FUNNY CAR

Robert Hight’s Mustang got the win while Courtney Force’s lost in the first round to Johnny Gray’s Dodge Charger. (James Drew photo)

For the third time in 2012 and the 26th time in his career Robert Hight picked up another NHRA national event win. Hight won from the No. 1 qualifying position, a first in the Funny Car class at the spring event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He defeated fellow Ford driver Bob Tasca III in the final after dispatching Terry Haddock, Gary Densham and Bob Bode.

“Being No. 1 qualifier in Pomona was sort of a curse but I don’t look at it as too bad of a curse. You make your own luck. Most of the time when you lose out here you beat yourself. There are no underdogs. The TV cameras were talking about the underdogs running good like Bode, Densham or Haddock and I told them to stop because there are no underdogs. Anybody can win in this class,” said Hight. “No No. 1 qualifier has ever won here and not that many people have even repeated here.”

In the final Hight never trailed in the race. He got off the line first and his elapsed time of 4.154 seconds was well out in front of Tasca’s 4.213-second run.

“This class and the parity; it has never been this close. It is exciting and it makes winning three in a row all the more special. It is a lot of pressure on the driver. When our other teams go out early and those guys are over here helping my guys between rounds. When the crew chief walks away that means you have the car and it is all on you. It is a lot of pressure not having John on the TV doing interviews and helping me out there because he is the king at all this.”

This is the second time in Hight’s career he has won three races in a row and he has officially moved into the Full Throttle points lead.