HIGHT WANTS HOMERUN DURING WESTERN SWING

TEAM CASTROL/JFR25TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON ROBERT HIGHTPre-Race Package for the 23rd annual NHRA Northwest NationalsJuly 9-11, 2010Pacific RacewaysSeattle, Wash.14th event in the Countdown to the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Championship * * * * follow John Force Racing at www.twitter.com/jfr_racingTo celebrate 25 years of Castrol sponsorship, go to www.castrolforce.com * * * *HIGHT WANTS HOMERUN DURING WESTERN SWINGSEATTLE (July 5, 2010) --- As a long-time baseball fan Robert Hight understands the subtleties of the game. The 2009 Funny Car champion chose to play catcher in high school because he wanted to be involved in every pitch and help control the flow of the game. The subtleties of winning a second Full Throttle Funny Car championship have Hight in a similar position sitting in second place in the Full Throttle point standings behind 14-time champion and teammate John Force, Hight wants every round to count and he wants to have control of the outcome of every round when he is behind the wheel of his Auto Club Mustang.In 2009 that was not the case as Hight struggled most of the regular season before getting on track in the Countdown. In Seattle last year Hight qualified 10th and was quickly dispatched by Tim Wilkerson in the first round. In his previous four races at Pacific Raceway he had never qualified lower than 3rd and three times was the No. 1 qualifier.This season Hight, the former crewman turned world champion, and Force have been battling at the top of the point standings for the past two months. The boys of summer will now attack the Western Swing and as the regular season comes to an end Hight wants to finish on a hot streak.“I have said all season that I want to dominate all year if I am going to have a shot at my second Full Throttle Funny Car championship. John dominated in the 90’s and he is still dominating. He has more wins and more finals this season than anyone in the class. He is amazing and I am just trying to stay close to him. (Crew chief) Jimmy Prock and I have a plan and we want to keep our Auto Club Mustang running at the front of the pack. It is so hard to do that this year in Funny Car,�?? said the three time 2010 winner.“At the last race in Norwalk we were running great on race day and then we ran up against John in the semi-finals.  I don’t know what happened at the start of that race. When I pull up, I don’t look at the Tree.  I am looking down track to make sure that my Mustang is straight.  I see (Jimmy) out of the corner of my eye stop me and I stop.  He does his deal and he walks away.  When he walked away (this time), the bottom stage bulb flashed.  I stopped in my tracks.  I thought maybe he pulled me clear through the beams and (asked myself) ‘am I way too far in?’  I saw the flash and thought, ‘how did that just happen?’“I rolled forward and the top pre-stage bulbs lit.  I blacked that out and never thought of it again until it was over with. I saw John pre-stage. I pulled my (fuel) pump on, took my foot off the clutch and started bumping in.  I got staged I looked over and he was staged.  I looked at the Tree and I never saw anything.  He left.  You can see on our video it did flash, the Tree did, but I swear I did not see it.  It was a quick one,�?? said a dejected Hight outside the Auto Club hauler.�?? “For some reason, something was weird and it was a quick flash. I don’t know what took place. It wasn’t anything more than driver malfunction. I have no idea. I did not see the Tree come down.�??Force took the round win and Hight has moved on focused on winning the Seattle race and making a run at the Western Swing.“John is the only Funny Car driver to win the Western Swing. Of course I would like to join him but there are probably ten or twelve other drivers out here capable of winning three races in a row so I am not going to guarantee anything. You can’t call your shot in Funny Car. It is just too tough,�?? said the three time No. 1 qualifier at the NHRA Northwest Nationals.“I am going to start the Western Swing the same way I started the month of May; with a little baseball. I am going to watch the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night play the New York Yankees after a Full Throttle appearance at a local Wal-Mart. I threw out the first pitch in St Louis before we won the AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals and then we went to the next three finals ultimately coming within one round of winning four races in a row.�??In that stretch Hight won 15 rounds of racing in a row before being stopped by Matt Hagan in the Chicago final. He became just the fifth different driver in Funny Car history to win 15 rounds in a row. Only six Funny Car drivers had ever won three races in a row before Hight accomplished the feat this season, most recently Cruz Pedregon en route to his 2008 Funny Car championship.Seven drivers including Hight have won three or more races in a row and overall since 1975 there have been 19 occurrences of a driver winning a minimum of three races in a row. In all but two instances the driver who won three in a row went on to win that year’s NHRA Funny Car championship. In 2002 Tony Pedregon won three in a row but teammate John Force, another three in a row winner, won the championship. In 2005 Gary Scelzi won the championship at the last race of the season in spite for Force’s three in a row run earlier in the season.Hight is not thinking championship or Western Swing dominance right now. He has his eyes focused on going rounds and giving Prock and his team as much information as possible on his Auto Club Mustang.“We made some changes at the start of June and really what we need is to make as many passes as possible. In May and early June during that four race stretch on Sundays I made sixteen passes going to those four finals. Last year during that same four race stretch I only went five rounds. We got three times as much information this year versus last year,�?? said Hight. “Last year in the Western Swing I went to two semi-finals but lost in the first round in Seattle. A good start in Seattle could set us up for a strong run on the Western Swing and get us in position for the Countdown.�??  ****Castrol/JFR 25th Anniversary Flashback:            It was 16 years ago that John Force drove his Castrol GTX Funny Car to victory in all three of the races that make up the Western Swing. He remains the only Funny Car driver and one of only seven overall to have accomplished that feat.            Nevertheless, it wasn’t a walkover for drag racing’s biggest winner. Although he beat Chuck Etchells decisively in the final round of the first race at Denver, he needed a hole shot to win the following week at Sonoma where his time of 5.147 seconds got him to the finish line .003 of a second ahead of Etchells’ slightly quicker 5.128.            At Seattle, it was the late Al Hofmann who lined up opposite the 14-time champion in the money round. Force won that showdown with a time of 5.036 to Hofmann’s 5.187.             He came close one other time – winning at Denver and Seattle in 1996 but losing to Cruz Pedregon in the final round of the Northwest Nationals.             If the 1994 sweep was a first for Force, then 2005 was the worst. That year, he failed to win a single round of racing in the three races comprising the Western Swing. EVENT OVERVIEW:            At the 23rd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals, John Force could become the first Funny Car driver to clinch a berth in the Countdown to 1 playoffs that will determine 2010 Full Throttle champions in Funny Car, Top Fuel, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle classes.            If the 14-time series champion leaves Pacific Raceways on Sunday night at least 414 points ahead of Jeff Arend, who presently occupies the No. 11 position, he will sew up one of the 10 starting spots. He enters the Northwest Nationals 419 points ahead of Arend.            Force, who already has won four races this year, matching his total for the three previous seasons, has taken his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to the final round at the last two events in the series. Although he has won seven times in the Northwest Nationals, he hasn’t done so since 2004.            Force’s teammates, reigning series champion Robert “Top Gun�?? Hight and Ashley Force Hood, also are expected to contend for both the Northwest Nationals championship and for qualifying honors.            One or the other of the John Force Racing Mustangs has started from the front of the pack this season in 11 of 13 races. Force Hood, the 27-year-old reigning Mac Tools U.S. Nationals champion, has been No. 1 at the last two races and Hight has been the No. 1 qualifier in three of his five career starts at Seattle (2006, 2007 and 2008).            * * * *JFR RACING HISTORY AT PACIFIC RACEWAYS:            Wins – 10, seven by John Force for Castrol GTX (1991, 1993-1994, 1996, 2000, 2003-2004); one by Tony Pedregon for Castrol SYNTEC (2002); one by Eric Medlen for Castrol SYNTEC (2005); one by Courtney Force for Sanyo and BrandSource (2009 in Top Alcohol Dragster).            Last year – In a race in which his youngest daughter Courtney won the Top Alcohol Dragster title after winning a semifinal race with sister Brittany, John Force reached the semifinal round before losing to former protégé Tony Pedregon.            Notable #1 –.The late Eric Medlen still holds the quarter mile record at Pacific Raceways at 4.735 seconds, a mark he established en route to his final round victory over teammate Robert Hight in 2005.            Notable #2 – Current series champion Robert “Top Gun�?? Hight is the track record holder at the 1,000 foot distance at which races have been run for slightly more than two years. Hight drove his Auto Club Mustang through the 1,000 foot timers in 4.056 seconds and 304.39 mph in qualifying No. 1 in 2008.             Notable #3 – Ashley Force Hood rode out the worst incident of her brief pro career at the 2007 Northwest Nationals when the engine in her Castrol GTX Ford failed in a second round race against Kenny Bernstein, sending her, on fire, into the guardwall before spinning back into the center of the track.  * * * *PRO POINTS (Current 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Series point standings):            FUNNY CAR– 1. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 1024; 2. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 951; 3. Matt Hagan, Diehard Dodge Charger, 849; 4. Jack Beckman, MTS Dodge Charger, 835; 5. Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 813; 6. Bob Tasca III, Quick Lane/Motorcraft Ford Mustang, 792; 7. Tim Wilkerson, Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Mustang, 777; 8. Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger, 751; 9. Del Worsham, Al Anabi Toyota Solara, 741; 10. Tony Pedregon, Quaker State Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 637.            TOP FUEL – 1. Larry Dixon, 1256; 2. Tony Schumacher, 1080; 3. Cory McClenathan, 1030; 4. Antron Brown, 929; 5. Doug Kalitta, 901; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 843; 7. Shawn Langdon, 622; 8. Morgan Lucas, 608; 9. Steve Torrence, 534; 10. Terry McMillen, 474.            PRO STOCK – 1. Mike Edwards, Pontiac GXP, 1379; 2. Allen Johnson, Dodge Avenger, 987; 3. Jeg Coughlin Jr., Chevrolet Cobalt, 857; 4. Greg Anderson, Pontiac GXP, 799; 5. Jason Line, Pontiac GXP, 699; 6. Greg Stanfield, Pontiac GXP, 681; 7. Ron Krisher, Chevrolet Cobalt, 673; 8. Rodger Brogdon, Pontiac GXP, 563; 8. Shane Gray, Pontiac GXP, 561; 10. Rickie Jones, Pontiac GXP, 509. * * * * TELEVISION (all on ESPN2, all times Eastern Daylight):Qualifying – Saturday, July 10, 11 pm-1 amNHRA RaceDay – Sunday, July 11, 11-11:30 amRace Highlights – Sunday, July 11, 7-10 pm.Repeat race highlights – TBA            * * * *NEXT EVENTS (2010 NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship):23rd annual FRAM/Autolite Nationals, July 16-18, Sonoma, Calif.31st annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals, July 23-25, Denver, Colo.29th annual Lucas Oil Nationals, Aug. 13-15, Brainerd, Minn.56th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Sept. 1-6, Indianapolis, Ind.3rd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals, Sept. 17-19, Charlotte, N.C.25th annual O’Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals, Sept. 23-26, Dallas, Texas * * * *CONTACTS:For John Force Racing, Inc.:Elon Werner                             Kelly Antonelli                             Chad Light214-244-1184                           317-858-8900                               714-921-8123elon@johnforceracing.com               kelly@johnforceracing.com       chad@johnforceracing.comFor Castrol:Dave Densmore                       Lori Anne Goladenswood@aol.com               lorianne.gola@bp.com214-244-0008                           973-633-2393For Ford Racing:Kevin Kennedykkennedy@pcgcampbell.com313-203-7108For the Auto Club of Southern California:Rick Lalorlalor.rick@aaa-calif.com714-885-2085 * * * * For additional information or photos, contact one of the representatives above or go to www.johnforceracing.com or www.nhra.com. * * * *