CHAMPIONSHIP WITHIN HIGHT'S GRASP AT HOME TRACK
POMONA (November 11, 2008) --- Two round of racing. Forty points. Less
than nine seconds. That is all that stands between Robert Hight and his
first Funny Car POWERade Championship.
All season long Hight has been the focus of the championship hunt. He
opened the season with a win in Pomona at the Winternationals and he
followed that with a runner-up finish in Phoenix. He led the points for
the fourth year in a row, something only he has done at least once during
the last four seasons in the Funny Car class.
Then there was a bit of a swoon as Hight and his team struggled to work
out some performance kinks that had plagued the championship caliber
team. His team was consistently a top qualifier and still struck fear
throughout the Funny Car ranks but the early career dominance that
propelled him to the 2005 Rookie of the Year Trophy and back-to-back
championship runner-up finishes was hit or miss on race day.
An emotional win at Sonoma followed by this second career win at the Mac
Tools US Nationals once again had Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang
team thinking championship.
As the Countdown to 1 started Hight was again consistent but not
dominant. A couple of miraculous moves by his competitors kept him from
grabbing wins at Charlotte and Dallas. Still Hight and the Auto Club team
kept the championship focus knowing that they were always within striking
distance.
Two weeks ago Hight made a strong move up the points ladder in Las Vegas
thanks to an assist from teammate Mike Neff who eliminated then points
leader Tim Wilkerson in the first round. Hight marched to the final round
where he was narrowly defeated by current points leader Cruz Pedregon.
Now with only one race to go Hight is 39 points behind Pedregon and 27
points behind Wilkerson. It comes down to one race for the championship
and Hight is tired to just missing out on his opportunity to hoist the
grand prize.
"I am just excited we actually have a shot. It is not a long shot.
It is a good shot to win this championship. I am tired of finishing
second. I know we have what it takes to win this thing with the team,
with the people. I know I can win rounds," said Hight.
Last season Hight entered the final race of the season 92 points out of
the title. While he came up short he did made up 73 points in one race on
eventual champion Tony Pedregon a feat he would like to repeat in 2008.
This weekend Hight knows he has a great shot at getting a championship.
"We were 92 points back and now it's attainable, you know,
two rounds. We've had good luck at Pomona and I've won the
last two races there. We are going to be just fine. My car ran great all
weekend and we gained a lot more [points] than I thought we could in one
race. We will just have to see what happens at Pomona," added
Hight.
As if Hight needed any additional motivation for success this weekend he
will be racing a Los Angeles Dodgers commemorative Ford Mustang and
Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda will be the events grand marshal. A
life-long Dodgers fan Hight threw out the first pitch earlier this season
at a Dodgers game and now he will be competing flying the Dodgers colors
on his Mustang as well as an Impact custom designed fire suit.
"The Dodgers had a stretch there where they lost eight in a row,
and they came back. You know what? If we do the same thing with the race
team, it's not over yet. A lot of people would've written
them off when they lost eight in a row, and they ended up getting five or
six games back, and they just kept working at it, working as a team, and
they came through, and that's what we need to do," added
Hight.
-credit: -www.johnforceracing.com-
