HIGHT LOOKING TO GATEWAY TO CLOSE CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS GAP
Madison, IL – Robert Hight and the AAA Ford Mustang team closed the gap on points leader Matt Hagan with a semi-final finish at last 
weekend’s AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals. Hight will continue to try and reel in Hagan as well as Dallas winner Cruz Pedregon while he holds off a charging 15-time Funny Car champion John Force at this weekend’s AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals. With four races left in the Countdown to the Championship Hight is poised to make a strong run for his second NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car Championship.
“I said at the beginning of the Countdown if you wanted to have a chance to win the championship you would need to win two or three races at least and get to the semi-finals at the other races. We won in Charlotte and moved from 9th to 3rd and in Dallas we had a great race car which made it to the semi-finals,” said Hight.
Hight will enter the 2nd annual AAA Insurance Midwest Nationals only 63 points behind Funny Car leader Matt Hagan and a mere eight points behind Cruz Pedregon. With a strong qualifying effort Hight could get within three rounds of Hagan going into race day.
“We are focused on making every run count. We only got two qualifying runs in Dallas because of rain on Friday. We made the most of our opportunities and we were No. 1 going into race day. Mike Neff has a great handle on this AAA Funny Car and I am excited to be driving,” said Hight.
With ten round wins in the past three races Hight has the most momentum going into the third race of the Countdown. He has also had success at Gateway Motorsports Park both in qualifying and on race day. In two of the last four races Hight has a win (2010) and a semi-final finish. In his previous seven appearances he has qualified in the top half five times with four of those qualify spots in the top three.
“I love racing in St. Louis at Gateway. It is a sponsor race so that means we will have a great cheering section. I’ll be in early for the AAA Insurance customer race and I think doing the media and sponsor appearances really helps me get focused for qualifying and the race on Sunday,” said Hight.
Throughout the 2013 season Hight struggled with consistency while he and crew chief Jimmy Prock battled to find a tune-up for the AAA Funny Car. Prior to the Western Swing team owner John Force swapped teams and cars with Force moving over to the Jimmy Prock led team and Hight moving over to Mike Neff and his crew. The move has paid immediate dividends for both teams as Force raced to the final in Dallas and the Hight/Neff combo has picked up two wins in the last three races.
“John is always looking at the big picture. Jimmy and I were working great together but we just weren’t seeing the results on the track. I am a huge Jimmy Prock fan and I also really enjoy working with Mike Neff. We are one team over here and we will work together to get the most round wins for the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, the AAA Ford Mustang and the Traxxas Ford Mustang that Courtney drives,” added Hight.
