Robert Hight takes Auto Club Chevy to Norwalk final round

NORWALK, OH – Auto Club of Southern California driver Robert Hight put together another strong performance with his Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, but fell short of his first victory of 2017 in the final round of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals on Sunday at Summit Motorsports Park.

Hight had the quickest car in two of the first three rounds of eliminations, carrying over a steady performance from qualifying, where he ended up with the second-quickest elapsed time.

But an issue with the clutch caused Hight’s Auto Club car to shake and get sideways in the final round, and he had to lift the throttle before falling short of what would have been his first victory of the season and first at Norwalk.

“You have to be in it to win it,” Hight said. “But when you just see what you have to run to be able to win, it’s painful, especially when we were doing it. Since Q4, we put a nice string of runs together and I honestly went up there (in the final) thinking if we go A to B, it’s over. And that would have been the case.”

Hight had the two quickest elapsed times of race day, 3.913 seconds at 329.85 mph in beating Jim Campbell in the first round and 3.925 seconds at 328.62 mph in beating Bob Tasca III in the semifinals. His second-round run was quick, too, 3.978 at 321.73 mph, to beat Alexis DeJoria.

But in the final, Hight slowed with a 6.673-second pass at 98.53 mph, falling to a winning 4.073-second run at 311.85 mph. Hight has made it to two finals and four semifinals in 2017 but is still looking for his first victory.

“I guess (crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) said it was clutch disc-related,” Hight said. “You just move on. Everybody says, ‘You’re due.’ I don’t believe in stuff like that. No, we have to go up there and do our job four times better than everybody else and we’ll win.

“The only people who are due are the Auto Club, Chevrolet, who have stepped up and given us everything we need. They’ve done their job. We have to do ours.”

Hight will maintain fourth place in the Funny Car points standings heading to Fallen Patriots Route 66 NHRA Nationals on July 7-9 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. While he is frustrated with not winning in 2017 so far, he knows if his team stays the course, the victories will come.

“It’s not from lack of effort,” Hight said. “We’re working hard. I spent four weeks on the road with these guys. I’ve seen how much they want it, how hard they’ve been working, and they’ll continue it. We’ll get there.”

Norwalk race ends too soon for 16-time Funny Car champ John Force 

– John Force took the PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro to the quarterfinals of Sunday’s Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, the halfway point and 12th of 24 rounds on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Force secured victory in his opening-round matchup with a solid pass of 3.930 seconds at 326.32 mph, besting Dale Creasy Jr., whose car failed to compete following problems after the burnout. That put him into a second-round race against Bob Tasca III.

While Force posted a time of 4.047 seconds at 301.00 mph, Tasca’s run was slightly better, winning the race with a pass of 4.006 seconds at 323.58 mph. Tasca got the jump with a reaction time of .042 seconds to Force’s time of .070 seconds, though Force pulled even at the 60-foot mark. But Tasca inched away thereafter, leaving Force a quarterfinalist for the second consecutive race.

“When the (race car) gets a personality that doesn’t like you, you have to stay after it,” said Force. “It’s banging right before the lights and we can’t figure out why, and we’ve tried everything. So it’s back to testing. You have to have consistency. Sometimes you cannot be fast and be consistent and be there at the right time with a little luck and win.”

The next race on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule with the Fallen Patriots Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

Monster Energy Top Fuel driver Brittany Force races to Norwalk semifinals

– Brittany Force found several positives in her march to Sunday’s semifinals in the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, the 12th of 24 races on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.

Force took the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster to elimination-round victories against Pat Dakin and Terry McMillen before falling to eventual race winner Steve Torrence in the third round. She also posted quick elapsed times in two qualifying sessions and boosted her points total as the season reached the halfway mark.

Force bested Dakin in the first round, despite falling behind early. She won with a pass of 3.772 seconds at 324.98 mph while Dakin trailed by only a half-car length at the finish. That set up another matchup against McMillen, whom Force had defeated in 12 consecutive races coming into the event.

But it took a lot of work in between rounds to get the 13th straight victory. The Monster Energy team found a problem in the ignition, resulting in multiple warmups and forcing the team to tow the car to the staging area right before the run.

Force hopped in the car later than expected, forcing her to change her pre-race routines. But once she got on the track, Force took care of business. Despite trailing early, she put together another solid performance with a pass of 3.808 seconds at 325.53 mph, while McMillen fell behind after dropping cylinders near half-track.

Force took on Torrence from the left lane, but Torrence led the entire way. He posted a time of 3.751 seconds at 326.08 mph, while Force’s car suffered tire shake and coasted to the finish line, officially at 8.630 seconds at 75.66 mph.

Force, though, was upbeat following her car’s departure.

“You have to look overall at the weekend, and the Monster Energy team had an outstanding weekend,” said Force, sixth in the Top Fuel points standings at the midseason point. “We picked up so many points in qualifying and went all the way to the semis. I’m hoping that moves us up in points, but semis are not a bad way to end this Eastern swing. We’ll go to Chicago next and hopefully get the job done there.”

The next race on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule with the Fallen Patriots Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.