Hight opened the day with a masterful driving display winning a first round match-up with the higher seeded Jack Beckman, then defeating points leader Ron Capps in the second round. His day ended with a semi-final loss to Tony Pedregon who moved into the points lead around Capps. After his first round victory Hight was enthused about his team's performance.

"That is a big one for us. Seeing Cruz (Pedregon) go out there (and beat Matt Hagan). We are fighting for Hagan too. It is tough. I'll tell you John Force came up to me before (the first) round and told me you have to believe in your team and you have to believe in your car. Trust me, I told him I have never stopped believing in the Auto Club Mustang and my team. They are the best. We can go out and win any round we race in. We can qualify number one. We just haven't been doing it. We are going to get on a roll here," said Hight.

With a weekend off the NHRA national event tour Hight's Auto Club team will spend a day testing at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio while they entertain a capacity crowd at the annual match race event.

"It is nice to go to a match race or testing when there is no pressure. It doesn't matter whether you are the driver or the crew chief you don't have to make a call based on trying to get qualified. You can just go there and try things that you believe need to be done to make this thing better. If it is a successful test then the mindset is coming out of there gives you a little momentum and a little hope. You have that excitement going to the next race. "

"Two of the next three races I have done well and one not so much. Brainerd, the next race, I have not had a lot of success. That doesn't mean anything either. The way I look at it is the races where you haven't had success are the ones you want to do better than ever at and get them under your belt and win. My crew chief, Jimmy Prock, has won at Brainerd before tuning a funny car. The car is definitely coming around. It really is. Looking forward to next weekend we are going to Norwalk for a match race. We'll use that as one of our test days. We'll run the wheels off this Auto Club Mustang. We'll pull into Brainerd with confidence."

In addition to Hight advancing out of the first round teammate Mike Neff and the Ford Drive One Mustang made the quickest pass of the eliminations when they bolted down the 1000 ft. race track in 4.12 seconds. The win allowed him to solidify his position in the Top Ten. He is currently in 9th place only 27 points behind teammate John Force in 8th. At the top end after the round one win Neff gave the lion share of the credit to his crew chief and team members.

"You really can't say enough about (crew chief) John Medlen and my whole Ford Drive One team. They have been doing a really good job. They are the ones that deserve the credit for that. You know conditions are better than they were yesterday in the heat. We took advantage of it and tried to step on it a little bit. It made a really good run. We are really pleased," said Neff.

Team leader John Force was a surprise casualty in the first round when his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang was upended by veteran journeyman racer Gary Densham.

"I can't seem to get that win. I have this monkey on my back and I can't get rid of it. Ashley (Force Hood) has a hot rod that goes every round. I went in there with my crew chiefs and they were like 'What do you want us to say?' I know the drill. It is just that when your car is starting to run (that) shouldn't happen. This is critical in the countdown. We are going to make it. It is just painful," said the 126-time event winner.

"What's amazing is cars jumped up out of nowhere running teens. Cruz (Pedregon) comes out of nowhere. My other car (Mike Neff's Ford Drive One Mustang) in the heat runs 4.12. I said to (crew chief Austin) Coil 'Don't key off that.' I took my radio out though. The ear plugs have been aggravating me. I took my radio out and I couldn't talk to my crew chief. Sometimes you give up something to get something else. The plug was hurting my ear. I've had this earache all morning. I took the plug out of one ear and I couldn't communicate with them. I lost my communication. The other plug is to record data if I crashed. I was yelling, 'Calm, it down.' I am watching these guys ahead of me run these big numbers. I couldn't communicate. I guess I ought to go back and apologize. Me and Coil we fight that is what we do."

"I get a gut feeling. I am not a tuner. I get a gut feeling about what I see because I drive by emotion. I don't drive by what the sun tells me. I don't drive by what the track tells me or the competition. I drive by the heart," concluded Force.

As the highest positioned John Force Racing Mustang, Ashley Force Hood was also out after only one round of racing today. In the first round she matched up with points leader Ron Capps. Force Hood's Mustang finished up qualifying on Saturday with a solid run but on Sunday morning her Mustang went away from her at half track. The third year driver knows that some days you have things clicking and other times you take a minor step back.

"I'm glad we are past the Western Swing. The day didn't go how we planned but we'll work through that. We knew we couldn't go to the semis and finals forever. If we are going to lose races in the first or second round let's get those out of the way now instead of the end of the season. We knew no matter who won that first round race with Capps it was going to be a big round," said the 2007 rookie of the year. "I am glad we have a weekend off coming up. My team has been so awesome and they have been working so hard every day it seems. I know I am ready for a little bit of downtime. We'll get rejuvenated get our energy back up and be ready for the next couple of races before the Countdown."

TEAM CASTROL Details:
JOHN FORCE, 60, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Qualifying position: 8th at 4.138 seconds, 298.40 mph Race results: Lost to Gary Densham.
Quotable: "Robert Hight is my best driver. He went to two semi-finals on the Western Swing. He won races on hole shots and by pedaling his Mustang. He has that Auto Club Mustang under control and I am not worried about him at all." - JOHN FORCE

ASHLEY FORCE HOOD, 26, Ronald McDonald House Charities Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Qualifying position: 3rd at 4.099 seconds, 304.67 mph Race results: Lost to Ron Capps.
Quotable: "I am glad we have a weekend off. My team has been so awesome and they have been working so hard every day it seems. I know I am ready for a little bit of downtime. We'll get rejuvenated get our energy back up and be ready for the next couple of races before the Countdown." - ASHLEY FORCE HOOD

ROBERT HIGHT, 39, Automobile Club of Southern California Ford Mustang Qualifying position: 11th at 4.184 seconds, 290.38 mph Race results: Beat Jack Beckman, Ron Capps. Lost to Tony Pedregon
Quotable: "It is a special race track. Infineon Raceway is Eric Medlen and mine home track. Eric was from the Modesto area in Oakdale and I am from northern California. This is the closest an NHRA national event gets to our home towns. There are a lot of people from Alturas, California, and up north that follow me that came down to this race. It means a little more when you do well here for all those people." - ROBERT HIGHT

MIKE NEFF, 42, Ford Drive One Mustang Qualifying position: 2nd at 4.069 seconds, 305.42 mph Race results: Beat Jerry Toliver. Lost to Tony Pedregon.
Quotable: "You really can't say enough about John Medlen and my whole Ford team. They have been doing a really good job. They are the ones that deserve the credit for that. You know conditions are better than they were yesterday in the heat. We took advantage of it and tried to step on it a little bit. It made a really good run. We are really pleased." - MIKE NEFF

NEXT EVENTS:
28th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, August 13-16, Brainerd, Minn.
25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, August 20-23, Reading, Pa.
55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Sept. 2-7, Indianapolis. Ind.

Courtesy of Elon Werner