Hot conditions plagued all the professional Nitro teams as they battled the Infineon Raceway track on Saturday. While almost no teams improved their performance numbers dramatically over the Friday night session, during the day John Force Racing had a number of highlights.

Mike Neff and the Ford Drive One Mustang made the second quickest run of the third qualifying session. Racing in near race day conditions Neff piloted the John Medlen tuned Mustang to a 4.172 second run as the sun-baked the Northern California track. After that run Neff was all smiles during his top end interview.

"I am really proud of my team right now. Yesterday was fun. It is always fun to slug it out in those conditions like last night but today it what counts. This is the kind of weather we will be racing in tomorrow. My Ford is running well. It is just a lot of fun being out here. That was a big run and I am more pleased with that run than our run last night," said the 2005 world champion crew chief turned driver.

"I think (crew chiefs) are tip-toeing quite a bit right now. This is the warmest track condition we have seen all weekend. You take your best educated guess and you either hit it good or you don't. If you miss you are playing catch-up the rest of the weekend. If you hit it right it seems like you are on the offense. That was an important run right there."

Not to be outdone Ashley Force Hood drove her Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglas tuned Ronald McDonald House Charities Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to the quickest time of the final qualifying session. The 4.174 second run was a shade quicker than fellow Ford racer Bob Tasca III's 4.177 to wrap up the session. Force Hood will enter her third FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals full of confidence thanks to a quick decision by her co-crew chiefs.

"We definitely have the most confidence after that run. It was still pretty warm out so it should be similar to the conditions we'll have tomorrow. I know Ron and Guido were debating something right before the run. They decided not to change anything and see if it would go. I am really glad they made that decision and now we see how far we can push it in those conditions," said Force Hood.

14-time champion John Force made two solid runs on Saturday in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang. In the first session of Saturday he covered the 1000 ft. race track in 4.196 seconds and to end the day he slowed a bit but still out ran former protege Tony Pedregon with a 4.211.

"This isn't the Ford Mustang it used to be but we are drawing from a lot of people on our team. Robert's, Mike's and Ashley's Mustangs are all helping us. It is a good enough car that could win this race tomorrow. I ain't getting no cuter but I am getting smarter. I am going to learn how to win with this hot rod. I want to thank Castrol, Ford, BrandSource, Auto Club, and Sanyo that give us the opportunity to come out here and play ball. It is great to be a part of it and be racing with my friends like (Tony) Pedregon. It is just a great time," said Force from the top end.

Finally Robert Hight and the Auto Club team have the most to gain tomorrow. The two drivers in front of him in the point standings Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon will race each other in the first round. Also even though he dropped back one qualifying position starting from the No. 11 position is exactly where Hight began his 2008 campaign at Infineon Raceway that ended with him hoisting the "Wally" in the winner's circle.

"That will be a big race between (Cruz) Pedregon and (Matt) Hagan in the first round. It ain't going to do us any good unless this Auto Club Ford takes advantage and wins some rounds. That is what needs to happen. We are running out of time. We'll be fine trust me. (Crew chief) Jimmy Prock will have this thing tuned up and we'll get this thing going down the track tomorrow just like we did last year," said Hight.

RACE SCHEDULE:
Sunday -
Pre-race: 10:00 a.m.
Final eliminations: 11:00 a.m.

THE DRIVERS
JOHN FORCE, 60, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Final Qualifying: 8th at 4.138 seconds, 298.40 mph First Round Opponent (W-L): Gary Densham (33-8)
Quotable: "I am going to learn how to win with this hot rod. I want to thank Castrol, Ford, BrandSource, Auto Club, and Sanyo that give us the opportunity to come out here and play ball. It is great to be a part of it and be racing with my friends like (Tony) Pedregon. It is just a great time." - JOHN FORCE

ASHLEY FORCE HOOD, 26, Ronald Mc Donald House Charities Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Final Qualifying: 3rd at 4.099 seconds, 304.67 mph First Round Opponent (W-L): Ron Capps (6-5)
Quotable: "We definitely have the most confidence after that run. It was still pretty warm out so it should be similar to the conditions we'll have tomorrow." - ASHLEY FORCE HOOD

ROBERT HIGHT, 39, Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang Final Qualifying: 11th at 4.184 seconds, 290.38 mph First Round Opponent (W-L): Jack Beckman (3-5)
Quotable: "That will be a big race between (Cruz) Pedregon and (Matt) Hagan in the first round. It ain't going to do us any good unless this Auto Club Ford takes advantage and wins some rounds. That is what needs to happen. We are running out of time. We'll be fine trust me." - ROBERT HIGHT

MIKE NEFF, 41, Drive One Ford Mustang Final Qualifying: 2nd at 4.069 seconds, 305.42 mph First Round Opponent (W-L): Jerry Toliver (1-1)
Quotable: "I am really proud of my team right now. Yesterday was fun. It is always fun to slug it out in those conditions like last night but today it what counts. This is the kind of weather we will be racing in tomorrow. My Ford is running good. It is just a lot of fun being out here. That was a big run and I am more pleased with that run than our run last night." - MIKE NEFF

http://www.johnforceracing.com

FOLLOW JOHN FORCE RACING AT http://www.twitter.com/jfr_racing.com

Courtesy of Elon Werner