COMMERCE, Ga. (May 5, 2012) --- When Robert Hight and his AAA Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang posted the quickest Funny Car elapsed time in qualifying, 4.104 seconds, they not only grabbed the No. 1 qualifying position, they won Charles Cook of Hillsboro, Ga. a new front loading washer and dryer compliments of BrandSource and the “Win with Force” promotion. This makes for Hight’s fourth no. 1 qualifying effort since the beginning of the season with only seven of the 23 events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing series tour completed. “We were testing a little bit the first run, and it didn’t make it, so Jimmy [Prock, crew chief] put it all back to normal. He said, ‘We have to make a run down the track in 130-degree-plus track temperature,’ because we didn’t have that yesterday. It was middle 120s. I’ll be honest with you; I think the right lane is probably the preferred lane, so to run a .15 in the left lane there, that was a statement, said the crew member turned driver in 2005. Hight has competed at Atlanta Dragway eight times since the start of his Funny Car driving career. This is the first time he has qualified no. 1 for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. Statistically, the Yorba Linda, Calif. native has qualified no. 1 for 43 out of his 168 events, which equates to Hight and his Auto Club Ford Mustang grabbing the top spot every fourth race of his career on average. JFR has given away four washer and dryer sets and six 55” flat screen TVs on behalf of BrandSource and the “Win with Force” promotion so far this year. “There are a lot of cars that are bunched up there (number-wise, in the field). It’s going to be a tough, tough race tomorrow. I’m excited for it. You’re going to see a lot of close, side-by-side racing. It’s not easy. When you win a race like this, it’s probably a little more special. You probably are going to need a few breaks along the way because anything can happen in this heat. It’s tough,” added Hight. At each NHRA national event when a JFR team qualifies No. 1 a lucky fan that has signed up at the JFR Win with Force display located in Nitro Alley will be eligible to win the BrandSource No. 1 Qualifier Award, a front loading washer and dryer set. If a JFR driver wins the event a different fan will win the 55” flat screen TV Winner’s Circle Award from BrandSource. At the end of the season a grand prize winner of the “Win with Force” Sweepstakes will be awarded a 2013 Ford Fiesta. The “Win with Force” promotion began in 2006 and has grown each season. In 2011 a total of 11 flat screen televisions were given away to lucky fans and seven sets of washers and dryers were awarded. Fans can sign up to win at the John Force Racing interactive midway display. This 53-foot trailer will be in the Nitro Alley area of every NHRA Full Throttle Series national event in 2012. The “Win with Force” promotion now includes JFR team partners Castrol, BrandSource, Ford, AAA Auto Club of Southern California, Mac Tools, and Pleasant Holidays all joining together to create an incredible promotion for the fans. Fans can sign up to win exciting prizes at NHRA events, www.brandsource.com and www.castrolforce.com as well as at thousands of BrandSource stores across the country. From: Sarah Adams
