John Force Racing continued it’s early season dominance with a convincing 1-2 placing during NHRA’s marquee and traditional Eastern season opening Amaile Oil Gatornationals.

In the final round, Robert Hight defeated his father-in-law and 16-time world champ John Force with a winning performance of 4.074 at 314.46 in his Auto Club Ford Mustang. Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Mustang lost traction early in the run as Hight pulled away.

It was the second career win at Gainesville for Hight and the 30th Funny Car win of his career. Hight was quick to give crew chief Mike Neff credit for keeping his Mustang competitive.

Robert Hight wheeled the AAA Auto Club Mustang to low ET of the event at 4.061 secs to take Funny Car eliminator

“Mike is a smart racer,” said Hight, who defeated Tony Pedregon, Bob Tasca III and Ron Capps to advance to the final round. “In the first round, we lifted the body up after the burnout, and – he never does this – Mike got into the box and changed a clutch flow. It’s something he must have thought of during the burnout, and he wanted to play it safe. He’s a savvy racer. I have a lot of confidence driving for Mike Neff. He always comes up and says, ‘No pressure. Let’s have some fun.’ I can’t wait to run a full season with him and this team. I think we’re going to hurt some feelings.”

Hight’s win capped a good day for John Force Racing in Funny Car. John Force struggled in qualifying en route to the No. 16 seed, but made his first solid run of the weekend in his win over No. 1 seed Cruz Pedregon. Courtney Force began to turn her season around as well, piloting the Traxxas Ford Mustang to a semifinal loss to her father.

“If you’d have told me this morning that John and I would be in the final, I don’t know if I’d have taken that bet,” said Hight. “Our teams have worked really hard and work well together, but we were struggling. Fortunately for me, the Auto Club team did a good job. I wasn’t on my game in the first round or the semis. Luckily, I had a great race car.”

Event Essentials:  Amalie Oil Gatornationals (Gainesville FL):

The fuel FC final saw Robert Hight (far lane) outrun John Force in an all JFR Ford Mustang battle.

Photos by:  Bruce Biegler