ROBERT HIGHT AND AUTO CLUB CHEVY SIT NO. 1 FRIDAY AT SONOMA RACEWAY
SONOMA, CA – Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS team sit in the No.1. spot after Friday 
night qualifying at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway. John Force and the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Funny Car are sitting No. 11 while, in Top Fuel, Austin Prock with the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster are No. 10 and Brittany Force with the Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy dragster are No. 13.
Taking the last pass down Sonoma Raceway for the Funny Car class, Robert Hight and the Auto Club Chevy went to the top spot with their quickest run since 2017. The Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham tuned Chevrolet Camaro laid down an impressive 3.825-second pass at 332.75 mph to take three-bonus points and the provisional No. 1 in Funny Car. Hight is chasing his fourth No. 1 position at the Northern California facility.
“You have to have a game plan when you’re coming into a race. You can’t think of winning, you have to go out there one run at a time and really focus,” said Hight who is looking to claim his third No. 1 of the season. “Tonight was about position, tomorrow is going to be hotter and get you ready for race day. Tomorrow it is equally, if not more, important that you go out and make two good runs to get you ready for race day. Great job by this Auto Club team, they have been working really hard and it’s paying off. Jimmy and Chris have a really good handle on this tune-up. I was impressed.”
John Force has to shut the PEAK Chevrolet off early in their first qualifying attempt for just a 4.788-second pass at 159.89 mph. They end the night in the No. 11 spot.
“Not what you want on a night run like this. Beautiful conditions at a beautiful facility but you know that’s why we have two more runs tomorrow,” Force said. “We’ll get down the track, get this PEAK Chevy qualified. We’ve been running well, so no reason to worry.”
Austin Prock is aggressive early on his first qualifying attempt at Sonoma Raceway but the Montana Brand / RMT dragster is off before the finish line for a 5.839-second pass at 105.84 mph putting the 10th in the field.
“We made adjustments tonight to try and bettor our set up. We fixed the problem we’ve been having but this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster was just a little to saucy for the track tonight,” Prock said. “We will get it backed down and try tomorrow. Good thing is the success rate for the whole field was low so still have a chance to get in the top half.”
Like Prock, Brittany Force and the Flav-R-Pac team had to shut off early during the first qualifying session. Force would eventually get to the finish line at 6.693-seconds and 84.46 mph. They’ll look to make a move from the No. 13 spot when qualifying resumes on Saturday.
“We will start over tomorrow here at Sonoma Raceway. In the first qualifying session we struggled to get this Flav-R-Pac car down the track,” Force said. “We had great conditions and pushed it too hard. We get two more runs tomorrow to get this team safe in the field.”
Racing at the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway continues with qualifying Saturday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. with eliminations beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. Television coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) for qualifying on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Eliminations will air on FOX Broadcasting Network Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.
AUSTIN PROCK, 26, Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Dragster
Qualifying: 10th; 5.839-seconds; 105.84 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0
BRITTANY FORCE, 36, Flav-R-Pac / Monster Energy Dragster
Qualifying: 13th; 6.693-seconds; 84.46 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0
JOHN FORCE, 73, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS
Qualifying: 11th; 4.788-seconds; 159.89 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0
ROBERT HIGHT, 52, Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SS
Qualifying: 1st; 3.825-seconds; 332.75 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +3 (quickest Q1)
Photo Credit: Gary Nastase, Auto Imagery
