HIGHT LOOKING FOR FIRST FULL THROTTLE WIN AT FIREBIRD

John Force RacingHight Pre-Race PackageEvent: 25th annual Lucas Slick Mist NHRA Nationals, 2nd of 24 events in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.Site: Firebird International Raceway, Chandler, Ariz.Dates: Feb. 20-22, 2009* * * *HIGHT LOOKING FOR FIRST FULL THROTTLE WIN AT FIREBIRDâ€œ(Phoenix) is tricky. You have to get after it hard there. I made the quickest funny car run ever there. So weâ€™ll see what happens.â€???â€“ Robert Hight* * * *Follow John Force Racing at www.twitter.com/jfr_racing****The DriverRobert Hight, 39, driver of the Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang, is entering 2009 following his fourth consecutive Full Throttle Top Five finish. He is the only Funny Car driver to have led the points each of the last four seasons.Â  The 2005 winner of the Auto Clubâ€™s Road to the Future award that identifies the Rookie of the Year, he owns the two quickest 1000 foot times in Funny Car historyÂ (4.056 and 4.005 seconds) and well as the quickest quarter mile times in Funny Car history (4.646 and 4.636 seconds).* * * *Robert Hight By the Numbers:1 â€“ Number of times Hight has started from the No. 1 position at Firebird International Raceway2 â€“ Number of times Hight has reached the final round at Firebird International Raceway7-4 â€“ Hightâ€™s round record at Firebird International RacewayÂ * * * *Full Throttle Point Standings (After 1st event of 24 Full Throttle events)Funny Car1. Ron Capps, 111; 2. Jim Head, 92; 3. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 78; 4. Gary Densham, 73; 5. Del Worsham, 57; 6. Ashley Force, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 56; 7. Bob Tasca III, 54; 8. Jack Beckman, 53; 9. John Force, Castrol Edge Ford Mustang, 35; 10. Tony Pedregon, 34. Also, 11. Mike Neff, Ford Drive One Auto Club Ford Mustang, 32; 11. Jeff Arend, 32; 11. Cruz Pedregon, 32.Top Fuel1. Doug Kalitta, 110; 2. Antron Brown, 90; 3. Brandon Bernstein, 70; 3. Morgan Lucas, 70; 5. Tony Schumacher, 50; 5. Steven Chrisman, 50; 5. Cory McClenathan, 50; 5. Mike Strasburg, 50; 9. Del Cox, 30; 9. Shawn Langdon, 30; 9. Andy Carter, 30; 9. Joe Hartley, 30; 9. Urs Erbacher, 30; 9. David Baca, 30; 9. Spencer Massey, 30; 9. Steve Faria, 30.Pro Stock1. Jason Line, 117; 2. Greg Anderson, 98; 3. Mike Edwards, 95; 4. Allen Johnson, 76; 5. Jeg Coughlin, 54; 6. V Gaines, 52; 6. Johnny Gray, 52; 6. Jim Yates, 52; 9. Warren Johnson, 34; 10. Kurt Johnson, 33; 10. David Beckley, 33.Â ****Track Records:Top Fuel* - 4.430 sec. by Tony Schumacher Feb. '07; 334.32 mph by Hillary Will, Feb. '08.Funny Car* - 4.636 sec. by Robert Hight, Feb. '07; 330.88 mph by Tommy Johnson Jr., Feb. '07.Pro Stock - 6.629 sec. by Allen Johnson, Feb. '08; 209.49 mph by Greg Anderson, Feb. '07.
(*performance records will not be officially recorded in Top Fuel and Funny Car at this event)****Race Schedule:Friday â€“ FC Qualifying: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Saturday â€“ FC Qualifying: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  12:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.Sunday â€“ Pre-race: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  10:00 a.m.Final eliminations: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  11:00 a.m.* * * *Team PR and Marketing Contacts:Dave Densmore, PRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Elon Werner, PRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  
Denswood SportsÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  John Force Racing, Inc.Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 214-244-0008Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  214-244-1184Â denswood@aol.comÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Elon@johnforceracing.comÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Chad LightÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Kelly AntonelliJohn Force Racing, Inc.Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  John Force Racing, Inc.714-921-8123Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  317-858-8900Chad@johnforceracing.comÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Kelly@johnforceracing.comSponsor PR Contacts:Â Rick LalorÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Lori Anne GolaÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Kevin KennedyAuto Club of SCÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  BP LubricantsÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Ford RacingÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 
714-885-2085Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  973-633-2393Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  313-203-7108lalor.rick@aaa-calif.comÂ Â Â  lorianne.gola@bp.comÂ Â Â Â Â  kkennedy@pcgcampbell.comÂ ROBERT HIGHTHIGHT LOOKING FOR FIRST FULL THROTTLE WIN AT FIREBIRDCHANDLER, AZ (February 17, 2009) --- The past two seasons Robert Hight and his Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang have come close to winning at Firebird International Raceway reaching the final round only to walk away without the coveted â€œWally.â€??? In last yearâ€™s final the former world-class trapshooter knew his Mustang was not operating at peak performance considering it had gone through a massive overall to add much needed safety improvements just weeks before the start of the season.This season the Funny Car championship contender feels that his Auto Club Mustang is much more consistent especially coming off a strong performance at the 49th annual Kragen Oâ€™Reilly Winternationals where Hight qualified No.1 and lost a tight semi-final race to eventual winner Ron Capps. The biggest hurdle Hight and the rest of the Funny Car field had to overcome in Pomona was the prolonged waiting due to persistent rain in Southern California.â€œIt was good to get in a race groove (on Tuesday). We got to make a couple of runs. The car went down the track both runs. Jimmy (crew chief Jimmy Prock) made some changes and it is not shaking. I donâ€™t count the first round since everybody shook for else they were so weak they were slow. I still believe everything is going in the right direction.Â Weâ€™ll go out and work real hard in Phoenix. If you would have had your stuff together this weekend you could have run a sub four second run out there with these conditions. Weâ€™re just not there yet,â€??? said an optimistic Hight.Racing in the desert can be tricky but Hight knows he has a battle tested team and one that is ready for another serious run at the Full Throttle Championship.â€œWe were lucky and we kept our whole team together. Jimmy has been working hard this off season and I know we have the car that can go rounds. I feel a lot better about coming into Phoenix this year. I made it to the semis in Pomona and Iâ€™m proud of all these guys. If you get to the semis all year long you are the world champion,â€??? said Hight. Hight will be taking the fight to the rest of the Funny Car class with three other teammates and he knows that there is strength in numbers. He will be joined by team leader 14-time champion John Force, 2007 Rookie of the Year Ashley Force Hood and 2008 Rookie of the Year Mike Neff. All four JFR drivers qualified for the Countdown to 1 last year finishing in the Top Ten.Â â€œThe four-car team only works because of the people that John has assembled. If we were butting heads and didnâ€™t all get along and race and work together it wouldnâ€™t be a good deal. To his credit, John has put together four teams of good people that work well together. It is a big advantage to share data and one team can try something and if it is good we can share with each other and really it is a continuous learning curve.Â The key is the interaction and in our case it is four teams working as one,â€??? concluded a confident Hight.Did You Knowâ€¦.Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  On Saturday Hight will take the Full Throttle TV crew to Ben Avery Clay Target Center in Phoenix to show off his trapshooting skillsÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Over the off-season Hight built a full size practice tree simulator at the John Force Racing Yorba Linda shop. The simulator allows JFR drivers to sit in a full size funny car and visually and physically experience reacting to the Christmas TreeÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  Hight is the only funny car driver to have led the points the past four seasons. He is currently in 3rd place with 78 points only 33 points behind Ron Capps for the leadÂ Follow John Force Racing at www.twitter.com/jfr_racing