Hight’s Qualifying Effort Puts Washer and Dryer in Fan’s
Hands

Robert Hight used his last pass of the day at the 9^th annual
Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals event in Las Vegas, to capture the No. 1
qualifying position with a run of 4.849 second and hand Carolyn Hills of
Goodyear, Ariz., a new Whirlpool washer and dryer as part of the BrandSource
“Win with Force” promotion. At sixteen select events during the 2008 POWERade
Drag Racing Series when any one of the four John Force Racing Funny Cars
qualifies No 1 at the event one lucky winner wins a Whirlpool washer and dryer
set.

“This is just so wonderful. This was the first time that I have been to
a national event. My son is a drag racer in
Salt
Lake and we
are big John Force Racing fans. I have been a Force fan for quite a few years
and we really like all his drivers,” said an excited Hills.

Kenny Koretsky recorded the first No. 1 qualifier of his career.

Make no bones about it, Kenny Koretsky plans to tell everyone he can what happened in Vegas.

Koretsky will begin Sunday eliminations in the No. 1 position on the
strength of his Friday run of 6.724 seconds. If you thought the run
might have been a fluke, Koretsky returned in Saturday’s heat to lay
down a 6.726 elapsed time.

"It feels great," said Koretsky. "We needed that. We have a lot of NHRA
Nitro Fish fans who want to see us win a race (another milestone that
has eluded Koretsky).  We got a great reception from the fans when we
came back (down the return road).  They gave us a standing ovation and
that means a lot."

Robert
Hight took a page from his father-in-law's playbook and went to the top
of qualifying in the final session. (Roger Richards)

On his last run qualifying run Robert Hight took a page from John
Force’s playbook and drove his Auto Club Ford Mustang to the top of the
field securing his first No.1 qualifying spot as well as the Full
Throttle Award –presented to the team that was most consistent during
the two days of qualifying- in the process.

“To go down the track here all four runs is unbelievable. I knew that
last run as going to be a good run,” said the former Funny Car points
leader. “It was really revving at the finish line. That is the best run
of the year for us so far this year. The motor seemed happy all the way
to the finish line.”

This was Hight’s fourth No. 1 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
and it was an impressive rebound for the championship caliber team
coming on the heels of a DNQ two weeks ago in Houston. Hight and crew
chief Jimmy Prock spent a full day testing a new clutch set-up and they
saw the reward for their hard work today in the desert.

Doug Kalitta, Taylor Barton, Branden
Giannini, Jonathan Mawhinney, Justin Johnson and Larry Dittman shared
the victory spotlight at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on
Saturday night.

The Ohio-based Mopar driver is
not only an excellent shoe, he’s also a respected and sought-after
engine builder.  This year Morgan-built Hemis are powering the likes
of  Vinnie Deceglie, Max Naylor, Johnny Gray and Phoenix winner V. Gaines
and, of course, his own car.  The thing is, though, all of Morgan’s
customers have been competitive from time to time this year, with
Gaines having emerged with one big victory.  But the team leader has
been spending his Sundays on the sidelines, an ignominious DNQ every
time out.

Saturday is going to be interesting with the likes of John Force, Ron Capps and Jerry Toliver unqualified. (Marty Reger)

The
first of two pro qualifying sessions resulted in a fair significant
amount of grumbling from a number of tuners and drivers about the track
preparation – or lack thereof.  As one former champion put it after
noting that the Funny Car list had a best of 4.927 and it only took a
six second run to get in at that point, 

“There is no way there are 21 stupid crew chiefs out here.”  Mired at
the back of the field at that point were the likes of drivers like John
Force, Ron Capps, Scott Kalitta and Cruz Pedregon.

Piedmont Dragway put on a season-opener to
remember yesterday, as fans enjoyed action-packed racing and weather
fit for a king. After a single shake down session and two qualifying
rounds, the field was set for an eye-opening Big Dog event that many
won't soon forget.

As cars and drivers alike tried to shake off winter's ring rust, Todd
Tutterow found himself sitting at the top of the ladder, driving his
blown Willys to a 4.18 @ 175mph. Seven positions south sat Darrin Hoyle
on the bump, making the show in his first Big Dog start. After a
brilliant career in ORSCA Limited Street, Hoyle drove his ex-Rickie
Smith Pro Stock Cobalt to a 4.30 @ 170mph.

Under
a setting sun at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway three of the
four John Force Racing Ford Mustangs stepped up and blasted to the top
half of the field after one day of qualifying at the 9th annual
Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. Led by Ashley Force, No.
3, who also recorded the fastest mph of any Funny Car on the Bruton
Smith owned facility, Mike Neff, No. 6, and Robert Hight, No. 7 rounded
out the John Force Racing young guns.

The lone JFR driver on the outside looking in was 14-time champion John
Force who did not improve on his first round 4.971 second pass during
the second qualifying session which was good enough for 15th quickest
of the day. His run will not carry over into Saturday and he will be
battling eight other drivers including Ron Capps, Jack Beckman, and
former teammate Gary Densham for one of four remaining qualifying spots.

Three-time Las Vegas winner Jeg Coughlin Jr. is off to a strong start
at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, qualifying with a steady
6.743 at 203.98 mph Friday evening to claim the No. 8 spot on the
provisional ladder.

Usually qualifying positions don't mean as much this early in the
POWERade season, but Coughlin entered the ninth annual SummitRacing.com
NHRA Nationals, the fifth of 24 national events on the 2008 schedule,
just three points out of the lead. He knows the No. 1 ranking he held
just one race ago is attainable just by qualifying well.

"It all matters when you're racing in the Pro Stock class because as
we've seen already this season, any car in the field is capable of
winning," Coughlin said. "We've seen championships won and lost based
on just a few points over the last few years so it really makes you
aware of the bonus points you earn in qualifying."

WILKERSON, SCHUMACHER, KORETSKY CLAIM PROVISIONAL NO. 1 QUALIFYING SPOTS

Tim Wilkerson has qualified low in 2008, if his Friday effort holds on Saturday. He'll have a third in 2008.

Tim Wilkerson looked primed to earn his third No. 1 qualifier of the
season during the opening day of qualifying at the ninth annual
SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals.

Wilkerson piloted his Levi Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS to a
4.850-second pass at 318.24 mph to become the provisional top
qualifier. It will be his 13th career No. 1 and his first in Las Vegas
if the run remains the best after two qualifying sessions on Saturday.