Words and photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

The dominant start of the 2012 season continued for Funny Car racer Robert Hight as he scored his fourth win in five races as he won the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway. Spencer Massey in Top Fuel and Greg Anderson in Pro Stock also secured wins at the fifth race of 2012 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Auto Club Ford Mustang driver, Hight, becomes just the fifth Funny Car racer to win four consecutive events in NHRA history and joins the ranks of Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, his team owner John Force and Cruz Pedregon, who he defeated in the finals, to accomplish the feat. Hight used a reaction time of .058 seconds at the start of his 4.076 second pass at 314.83 mph to secure his 27th career win.

“This is unbelievable. This class is so tough. Racing those three guys in the final, Cruz, Capps, Force, those guys are all hall of famers. They’re definitely guys that I grew up watching, and they all have more wins than me, so just to be out there racing those guys and to actually beat them is unbelievable,” said Hight. “To win one of these races is tough, and to have four in a row, it’s stuff that you don’t even dream about. I don’t see why we got to stop here, right? That was a 40-point swing for us in the final. That’s gaining 40 points on everybody but the runner-up. That’s big time. I want to keep this going. It’s not that easy to win out here, so you don’t want to give this up. You may never win another one.”

Massey is also enjoying a strong start to the season as he notched his third win of the early season.  Massey and his Fram/Prestone dragster, has yet to lose in a final round appearance this year and his 3.802 second pass at 332.18 was able to defeat his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher in the U. S. Army Top Fuel dragster. Massey also set the national speed record with his speed of 332.18 mph and he takes over the points lead from teammate Antron Brown.

“It’s unbelievable. Starting out running 328 mph in qualifying and then coming up this morning and blistering a 330 and then just trying to go down the racetrack in the final and running 332; we were just trying to go A to B and make them beat us. When I went across the finish line I didn’t know who won until I made the turnoff and it wasn’t until they were giving me the trophy that they told me I’d run 332 mph. That’s unreal. It just shows you how awesome this Prestone and Fram team of Phil Shuler and Todd Okuhara is running,” stated Massey. “The car always pulls hard on every run, and on that 332 it never let up. It pulled as hard at the finish line as it did at 330 feet. You know you’re on a good run when it does that. You just have to be focused on the starting line and have your head in the game. It’ll show you which driver knows what’s going on at the Four-Wide Nationals. I love it.”

This was the second NHRA Four-Wide Nationals win for Anderson who calls Charlotte home for himself and his race team. The driver of the Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP held off a hard charging Erica Enders in her GK Racing Chevy Cobalt. Enders is working to become the first female winner in the NHRA Pro Stock category. The 6.540 second pass at 212.23 powered him to his 72nd career win and adds to his points lead in the category.

“I am off to a good start this year. I’ve been in three finals, and leading the points. I have a great race car and Jason has a great race car. The Summit team is on fire. These are two of the very best cars we’ve had,” said Anderson. “When you’re racing four wide, you always feel like an underdog. Even if you have the fastest car, you have guys who cut 00 lights every time and let’s face it, I’m not one of those guys. I’ve complained about this [four-wide] concept but I guess it’s time to embrace it.”

Mike Castellana was awarded his third career NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series ProCare Rx victory at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in a single pass during the final round after his competitor was unable to make it to the starting line. Castellana was to face Leah Pruett in the finals but she suffered extreme engine damage in the semi-final round and her team wasn’t able to fix the car in time for the final.

This was the second consecutive final round appearance for Castellana who was defeated in Gainesville by Rickie Smith. Castellana faced Smith in the quarterfinals during eliminations on Sunday and was able to avenge his loss at the prior event. Castellana also defeated Chip King, and the No. 1 qualifier of Danny Rowe en route to the finals. With the win Castellana takes over the point lead from Smith.

The NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx will next be in action at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries on April 27-29.

Qualifying Wrap-up

Robert Hight continued his hot start of the season as he recorded his third No. 1 qualifying position in the first five events of 2012. Friday leaders, Jason Line in Pro Stock and Steve Torrence in Top Fuel, retained their No. 1 qualifying positions through Saturday’s qualifying efforts.

Hight was outside the 16 car field looking in when he powered his Auto Club Ford Mustang to the top of the field with a run of 4.074 seconds at 317.19 mph during the third round of qualifying. This is his 42nd No.1 qualifying position of his 166 race career. Hight has won the last three events and if he continues his winning streak at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, he will become the fourth Funny Car driver to win four in a row joining legends Don Pruhdomme, Kenny Bernstein and John Force.

“It was a long night last night. It’s not a position that we’ve been in this year. My car has been running so well, but it was kind of comforting knowing we were on the slow side of it. Jimmy Prock, he has no problems making more power and making it go faster. That’s easy for him. If we were on the other side of it where we were fast and having to slow it down, I’d have been really nervous,” said Hight. “I would have a little more confidence if we had more than one run going into eliminations, but we hit it out there again tonight and shook. It was slow, so Jimmy will fix it tomorrow. We definitely have to get on the other side of it and make the thing faster, and if you do that, I have a good feeling this Auto Club car could be low e.t. every round, just like it was the first run today. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Four wide is exciting.”

In the four-wide format of eliminations Hight will face the No. 16 qualifier of Jeff Arend, the No. 8 qualifier of Bob Tasca and the No. 9 qualifier of Tim Wilkerson.

The 6.493 second pass at 213.91 mph Line recorded on Friday in his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP held up during the final two rounds of qualifying to help secure his second consecutive No. 1 qualifying position and the third of the season. It is the 26th No. 1 of his career and this is the fourth time he has held the top qualifying position at zMAX Dragway.

“I get along with this track in qualifying, but no so much on race day. Today was not a great day. I got timed out on one round but anytime you qualify No. 1 it’s great,” said Line. “I made a nice run on Q4, when I got timed out; in fact it might have been the first 214 mph run but we’ll never know. I got a little confused up there and didn’t realize which light I should have been looking at. Thankfully, it happened today instead of the first round tomorrow. That’s the only way you can look at it.”

Line will compete against the No. 16 qualifier of Jeg Coughlin, the No. 8 qualifier of Ronnie Humphrey and Rodger Brogdon who qualified No. 9.

Torrence maintained the top spot with the 3.799 second pass at 322.34 mph he recorded during the second qualifying session on Friday. This is the first No. 1 qualifying position of Torrence’s career in his newly built Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors team. Torrence is a second generation NHRA racer and a NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster champion.

“This is a blast. Any time you’re No. 1 at anything is great. This is a new team. I’m real happy to get that No. 1 spot, this first of my career. That just goes to show the hard work and dedication that they guys have put in,” said Torrence. “We’ve really strived to put together a top-notch team, and I think it’s beginning to show a little bit of what we’re capable of. I really felt confident that .79 would stay where it was at being as it was warmer today and those conditions last night were really good. It gives me a lot of confidence going into tomorrow that I’ve got a good race car, and tomorrow e.t.s don’t matter; it’s all about the win light.”

Danny Rowe held onto to his No. 1 qualifying position following three rounds of qualifying and used the top spot to win his opening round match-up against the No. 16 qualifier Scott Ray at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. This was the third No. 1 qualifying position of his 21 race career and first at zMax Dragway.

In eliminations Rowe recorded his fourth near perfect run of 5.958 seconds at 244.12 mph to the losing effort of 6.073 at 236.01 mph by Ray. When eliminations continue on Sunday Rowe, will face Ike Maier who defeated Donald Martin in the first round of eliminations.

Other quarterfinal races will be Rickie Smith vs. Mike Castellana, Brad Brand will face Mike Knowles, and Leah Pruett will race Donald Walsh.