The season-ending 13th annual IHRA World Finals is still 10 days away but Steve Earwood’s Rockingham Dragway got an early test on Tuesday when it played host to two former World Champions and two other potential 2008 champions during an impromptu test session.

The stellar lineup included past NHRA Pro Stock Champions Greg Anderson and Jason Line and their Mooresville-based Pontiacs, IHRA Pro Stock Championship contender Jeff Dobbins of Wilmington, N.C., and his Ford and the man who has finished second in the NHRA Funny Car standings the past two seasons, Robert Hight. The season-ending 13th annual IHRA World Finals is still 10 days away but Steve Earwood’s Rockingham Dragway got an early test on Tuesday when it played host to two former World Champions and two other potential 2008 champions during an impromptu test session.

The stellar lineup included past NHRA Pro Stock Champions Greg Anderson and Jason Line and their Mooresville-based Pontiacs, IHRA Pro Stock Championship contender Jeff Dobbins of Wilmington, N.C., and his Ford and the man who has finished second in the NHRA Funny Car standings the past two seasons, Robert Hight.

Hight, who tested last month in the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car usually driven by his father-in-law, drag racing legend John Force, was back on Tuesday putting his own Jimmy Prock-tuned Auto Club Ford Mustang through its paces, trying to sort out a pesky engine misfire situation.

Dobbins, who has won two races this season and is second in IHRA points behind Pete Berner, was particularly impressive Tuesday, bettering the official IHRA World Record of 6.273 seconds, a tremendous confidence booster just before the World Finals in which he is the defending champion.

Dobbins won the two IHRA races contested this year in Michigan, stopping Berner in the final round at both Milan Dragway and U.S. 131 Dragway (Martin, Mich.), respectively.

Anderson won the NHRA Pro Stock title in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and Line, his Ken Black Racing teammate, won in 2006.  Both are solidly in contention for the current championship although they trail both reigning champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Kurt Johnson in the current standings.

Hight, who for six seasons worked on Force’s championship winning Funny Cars, was the 2005 NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year and owns the two quickest quarter mile times in Funny Car history at 4.636 and 4.646 seconds.  With three 2008 victories and 11 in his brief career, Hight currently is third in NHRA points behind Tim Wilkerson and Jack Beckman.

In addition to Dobbins bid to overtake Berner for the IHRA Pro Stock title, the World Finals also will spotlight rookies Matt Hagan and Spencer Massey in their bids for championships in Nitro Funny Car and Top Fuel, respectively.  Hagan trails veteran Terry Haddock in the current Funny Car standings while Massey leads the Top Fuel points.  Both rookies benefit from the tuning expertise of veteran Paul Smith and his son John.