Auto Club Finals Day 1: Funny Car: Rising to new Hight's

Above: Robert Hight is on top of the world these days.

Robert Hight knows if he makes the field for this weekend's Auto Club NHRA Finals at Fairplex, the Funny Car title is his.
He left little doubt Thursday.
Hight, who brought a 105-point lead into the weekend, laid down the gaunlet by taking the provisional No. 1 qualifying position with a 4.093-second pass at 309.34 mph. John Force teammate Mike Neff is second at 4.137, with Jack Beckman third at 4.145.
Ashley Force Hood and Tony Pedregon, who trailed Hight by 105 and 113 points, respectively, coming into the event are No. 8 (4.211) and No. 11 (4.523), respectively.
"We're focused, and (crew chief) Jimmy Prock is extremely focused right now," Hight said. "My whole team is . We're not going to let our guard down and act like we got this thing sewed up. That's when you make mistakes, things happen and you don't qualify. (That run) was huge. I'm pretty sure that 4.09 will qualify. That's the first step."
Yes, life is good for Hight and his John Force racing team.
"John always talks about when your dreaming, the music's good and everything's going your way. Then there's days, when things are not going your way, and you can't find a good song on the radio. Right now, every song is good. We're going to enjoy this, but we still have some work to do."