Robert Hight drove his Automobile Club of Southern California Mustang to the number one qualifying position at the 2nd annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio today. Hight's 4.882 second E.T. at 309.77 MPH in Saturday's final qualifying session. The Fuel Funny Car qualifying field had 0.318 second spread by the end of qualifying.
The event was plagued with water issues. On Friday, qualifying was cancelled after the first PSM round when water began seeping out of the track near the finish line. The Norwalk area has had more than a foot of rain in the last week and the water percolates to the surface has the day warms up. Track officials worked for over five hours to dry the track before giving up. Saturday qualifying was put on hold twice due to rain, but the track workers were able to dry the track and complete Saturday's scheduled sessions.
Melanie Troxel and Gary Scelzi will not be racing on Sunday, as both were disqualified for having loose ballast in their cars. NHRA disqualified both drivers from the event when the loose weight was discovered after their qualifying runs in the first session.
Qualifying results and Sunday's first round elimination pairings are:
Position Driver E.T. MPH
1 Robert Hight 4.882 309.77
16 Mike Neff 5.200 224.43
2 Ron Capps 4.909 297.42
15 Jerry Toliver 5.085 278.12
3 Tim Wilkerson 4.910 304.32
14 Tommy Johnson Jr. 5.064 288.95
4 Bob Tasca III 4.932 303.64
13 Tony Bartone 5.007 260.11
5 Jack Beckman 4.965 300.26
12 Cruz Pedregon 4.995 296.83
6 Tony Pedregon 4.975 276.35
11 Jim Head 4.994 295.34
7 Del Worsham 4.977 302.14
10 John Force 4.988 274.11
8 Ashley Force 4.980 290.07
9 Gary Densham 4.983 297.29
Timing and scoring data courtesy of NHRA.