One streak in Funny Car came to an end, but Mike Neff made sure another continued during Sunday’s O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals.

After four straight event wins and 17 consecutive round wins, Robert Hight’s amazing run atop Funny Car came to an end in the semifinals against Ron Capps at Houston’s Royal Purple Raceway.

But John Force Racing’s dominant streak continued thanks to a day filled with a little bit of everything for Neff.

Catching his second break in eliminations when Capps dropped a cylinder and headed towards the center line, Neff claimed the event win, running a 4.239 at 301.67 mph to also extend JFR’s impressive winning streak to six.

One streak in Funny Car came to an end, but Mike Neff made sure another continued during Sunday’s O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals.

After four straight event wins and 17 consecutive round wins, Robert Hight’s amazing run atop Funny Car came to an end in the semifinals against Ron Capps at Houston’s Royal Purple Raceway.

But John Force Racing’s dominant streak continued thanks to a day filled with a little bit of everything for Neff.

Catching his second break in eliminations when Capps dropped a cylinder and headed towards the center line, Neff claimed the event win, running a 4.239 at 301.67 mph to also extend JFR’s impressive winning streak to six.

“It was a heck of a string Robert put together to win four races like they did. That’s hard to do in Funny Car or in any class for that matter. I give a lot of credit to them. I’m just glad I could keep the streak going for Team Force,” said Neff, who won for the first time in three final rounds in 2012.

“There is pressure and there are a lot of high expectations when you’re on a top team like John Force’s team. John Force is built on winning and of course there’s pressure there. You can just feel it and nobody has to tell you, but there’s no pressure coming from John Force. He’s our biggest supporter and cheerleader.”

Neff certainly didn’t expect his Sunday to unfold like it did.

Going against Jim Head in the first round, Neff admitted his first lucky break came against his longtime friend.

After a .062 reaction time, he double-stepped it and then smoked the tires. Head, though, struggled just as much and Neff was able to advance with a 4.495 at 251.30 mph.

It was a perfect summation of a weekend that was bizarre to say the least.

“The whole weekend has just been one of a kind. Not getting qualified until the last session was definitely a nail-biter,” said Neff, who is second in points behind Hight.

“In the first round, the light, it was just so long. I never let go of the brake because I knew I hadn’t see the yellow yet.  My foot just flipped it, but fortunately I was staged shallow enough that when it lunged a little bit, it didn’t go red and then I looked and saw the green and that’s why I legged it on through there when it started smoking the tires because I knew I didn’t red-light.

“I was fortunate. That was a total mistake, so we definitely got a lucky break there.”

After two solid runs to beat No. 1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon in the quarterfinals (4.199) and Jeff Arend in the semifinals (4.176), Neff once again found some luck against Capps.

“In the final, I caught another break. He was on a good run and something happened to him,” Neff said. “I don’t feel good about winning like that. I like being able to run quick of all the sessions and really feel like you earned it. Today, I definitely backed my way into it, but it’s not the way I liked to do it. There again, it’s also nice to catch a break. It doesn’t seem like we catch a whole lot of breaks.

Neff, who won for the seventh time in his career, felt confident about his warm-weather tuneups in Houston, as evidenced by his runs in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

He was also aware the amount of good fortune involved in going rounds in one of the NHRA’s tightest classes.

“Anybody will tell you, there’s a lot of luck involved in winning these races. Sometimes it’s your day and sometimes it’s not,” Neff said. “It seems like one little thing is enough to derail you and anything can happen. That’s what’s so exciting about it. You get one shot it and you either get it right, or catch a break, or it’s over with and you have to do it four times in one day.”

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