Robert Hight was quickly reminded how important it is to spend the off season refining a team's combination.

Hight thundered past Del Worsham for the top qualifying position during the NHRA Kragen O'Reilly Winternationals with a 4.037 second pass.

“It just shows how hard we worked over the winter,” Hight said, in a post-qualifying press conference. “The last few winters we have focused on safety and new cars. We went back before the season and looked at what we had lost mostly with. We tried to refine that and put in a few new ideas. We’re hoping for consistency because I don’t think you will see one team dominate in the Funny Car class.” Robert Hight was quickly reminded how important it is to spend the off season refining a team's combination.

Hight thundered past Del Worsham for the top qualifying position during the NHRA Kragen O'Reilly Winternationals with a 4.037 second pass.

“It just shows how hard we worked over the winter,” Hight said, in a post-qualifying press conference. “The last few winters we have focused on safety and new cars. We went back before the season and looked at what we had lost mostly with. We tried to refine that and put in a few new ideas. We’re hoping for consistency because I don’t think you will see one team dominate in the Funny Car class.”

Hight believes that the field would have been extremely tight if there had been four qualifying sessions. With rain scrubbing the first two and the last session, Hight felt the pressure on his lone opportunity.

“There’s always a lot of pressure when you know you have weather that can potentially affect qualifying,” Hight said. “This first run concerned me because we, as well as a lot of teams in Phoenix, had issues. The track was tricky.”

Compounding the pressure , the fact that Hight and tuner Jimmy Prock were breaking in a new combination.

“Jimmy went back to Indy and jumped on the clutch dyno,” Hight said. “He worked night and day and came here with a new set up. What we ran out there was something we had never run before. That’s tough to do because there’s usually a learning curve that you experience when you do that. To go out there and go to the top spot is unbelievable.”

The run might have been unbelievable on Saturday, but for Hight, the experience leaves him uncomfortable for Sunday.

“Austin Coil [John Force’s tuner] said that a combination needs about 20 – 25 runs before you can get a full gauge on what it does and doesn’t do,” Hight explained. “For us, it made a difference because we got in. The thought of not qualifying at my home track in front of family, friends and sponsors is scary.”