Robert Hight, during his struggles earlier in the season, was exposed to something he hadn’t seen before – a crew chief that second-guessed his decisions.

There was no second guessing tonight as Hight’s crew chief, Jimmy Prock, guided their car to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position and dual track records with a 4.074 elapsed time at 310.70 miles hour during first day qualifying at the NHRA Midsouth Nationals in Memphis, Tenn.  

“It’s so cool to watch Jimmy because he has some confidence,” said Hight, who picked up six bonus qualifying points for leading both Friday qualifying sessions. “When we were messed up most of the season, he would go back to the [electronic] box 100 times. You could just tell he was second guessing himself.

Appearing as if they were just tired of waiting through one oil down after another, the Alan Johnson Racing/Al-Anabi Top Fuel team towed their dragster back to the pits as the Safety Safari labored to groom the racing surface back to snuff after a third consecutive Top Fuel fire during second round qualifying in the NHRA Midsouth Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park.

The return to the pits was a strategic move. The team swapped out a set of scuffed [broken-in] tires for a set of sticker tires. It was a calculated move that paid off handsomely.

“The team just made a call to do that,” Dixon said. “I don’t know that that was the difference. The car certain made a good run, and fast.”

One of the best rivalries didn’t transpire on the track. It took place on the Manufacturer’s Midway.

O’Reilly Auto Parts, the event sponsor and major NHRA supporter, drew exception to the placement of the Don Schumacher Racing souvenir trailer placed in clear view of the starting line and potentially the television cameras.

Competition is underway at the season’s final NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Northeast divisional race hosted at Atco Raceway. The event is presented by P.C. Richard & Son and Franklin Trailers, where drivers are battling it out for last minute points leading to divisional and national championships. The first event at Atco, which was to be held in June, was rained out and will be completed in conjunction with this weekend’s event.  Pairings are set for the rainout event and qualifying sessions are in progress for the second race.

Jack Wyatt will participate in the International New Year Series USA at Willowbank Raceway, January 2 and January 16, 2010.

Gary Densham, last year’s winner, will travel to Australia with Wyatt to manage his campaign.

Wyatt has competed in Nitro Funny Car since 1987, and has finished runner-up for the IHRA championship. Despite his experience and success, Wyatt is a bit nervous about heading Down Under.

Greg Anderson’s Dallas gym accident forced him to race Sunday at the NHRA Fall Nationals with a sore left wrist. As it turns out, that pain turned out to be a hairline fracture.

When in Egypt, you walk like an Egyptian.

Likewise when you’re racing with a Ford-sponsored team, you don’t come to the dance with a Chevrolet.

That being said, Daniel Wilkerson is competing this weekend with a Shelby Cobra Mustang loaned from teammate Bob Tasca III. Memphis marks the second event in 2009 for the second-generation Wilkerson, who ran Topeka with his father’s old Impala Funny Car body.

Robert Hight raced to the Funny Car qualifying lead Friday at the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals.

Larry Dixon, Mike Edwards and Andrew Hines also led their categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

Hight, who barely made it into the NHRA Full Throttle Series Countdown to 1, has again made the most of his opportunity and followed up his back to back wins in Dallas and Charlotte, N.C. by leading qualifying at the Memphis Motorsports Park at the third event in the six-race championship playoffs.

Before breaking his 15-race winless drought this season, once-unconquerable Greg Anderson had learned to take it on the chin.
 
He kept his chin up after that Brainerd victory, even though he lost in the quarterfinals at Reading and the first round at Indianapolis and Charlotte for a disappointing start to the Countdown.
 
But at the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Nationals near Dallas, the three-time Pro Stock champion took it on the chin -- and won the event.
 
That Saturday night, he prepared for final eliminations by going to the gym. Instead of working out, he got worked over -- by the chinning bar.
 
"My hand slipped off of it and I kind of tweaked the wrist and whacked me in the chin with the other side of the bar," Anderson said, calling the accident "stupidity . . . flat stupidity."

With the birth of his second child Penny Louise Hagan just hours after he arrived home last Sunday in Christiansburg, Va., from the Ennis, Texas, event of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Matt Hagan is relaxed, ready and roaring to get back on track at this weekend's NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Driving the Valvoline Engine Guarantee/shelor.com Dodge Funny Car, the contender for the 2009 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award as an NHRA rookie-of-the-year frontrunner is aiming to win his first national event before the season is over in four events.

Though not a Countdown to 1 playoffs contender, he is hoping to be instrumental in helping his Don Schumacher Racing teammates Ron Capps and Jack Beckman earn the championship crown.