Racetrack Insider - News and Views of the Motorsports Industry from Insiders Drew Patey and Buddy Judy

Hight Takes Safety-Kleen to Victory Lane at Vegas NHRA Race

Robert Hight all but locked up his first NHRA Funny Car title when he drove to victory at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, a win that put the Safety-Kleen driver 105 points ahead of the rest of his competitors. Hight who drives for John Force did everything he had to do as his Mustang ran low e.t. of every round. In the final, Hight powered to a 4.125 to edge Jack Beckman by .012-second for the win. Beckman, who got the jump at the start with a .058 to .075, finished with a 4.154. The win is the third of the season for Hight, all of which have come during the Countdown to 1 playoffs, and the 14th of his career. In Top Fuel at Vegas Spencer Massey who also won in Chicago did it again this weekend. Massey was on a rail through eliminations and in the finals ran a 3.827, low e.t. of eliminations, to defeat Safety-Kleen's Larry Dixon in the final. This was a repeat of the Reading final, in which Dixon won. Dixon is now within one point of Tony Schumacher with one race to go. In Pro Stock veteran Larry Morgan won for the first time since Sonoma in 2002 as he defeated Rickie Jones in the Pro Stock final. Morgan led the final wire to wire, cutting a .012 light and out running Jones, 6.72 to 6.79, to claim his 10th career win. The championship picture is taking shape as the teams head to Pomona. The most interesting race heading into the final event is in Top Fuel, where just one point separates leader Tony Schumacher and second-place Larry Dixon who is a Safety-Kleen sponsored driver while. Cory McClenathan is just 48 markers out of the lead in Top Fuel. Robert Hight has it in the bag as he defeated Ashley Force Hood in the first round in Vegas and now has got to just make the field in Pomona in two weeks to take home the trophy. In Pro Stock, Mike Edwards all but clinched the championship. Edwards leaves Las Vegas 139 points in front of Safety-Kleen's Greg Anderson, engrave his name on the trophy. Dave Huntsman and the N. Las Vegas branch entertained a number of Safety-Kleen customers this weekend and as usual did a great job of spreading the Safety-Kleen environmental message at the race - great job. Now off to Pomona for the NHRA 2009 Finals - Go Larry Dixon, we need a win.