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Team Castrol/Auto Club of Southern California driver Robert Hight earned his first win of the season on his third trip to the finals with an emotional win over rival Ron Capps in the final round of the SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hight bested Capps with a less than glamorous final round pass of 5.126 at 282.90 miles per hour. Hight already had taken over second place in the POWERade points standings prior to the final, but the win moved him to within 88 points of Capps.
"I think I got it a little bit too far outside and it smoked the tires," Hight said of the final. "I never saw Capps, so I gave it a quick pedal (feathering of the throttle in an attempt to regain traction) and I saw the win light come on in my lane. It wasn't pretty ,but we'll take it. I haven't won a lot of races pedaling and I haven't had much luck in Vegas, so I think I had some help along the way today."
Hight could not control his emotions after picking up the win in his first trip back to the tour following Medlen's death from a testing accident in Gainesville, Fla.
"It is amazing," said the six-time tour winner. "I hated to sit out Houston (but) it is nice to get back out here with friends and family. It is amazing how many lives Eric touched because he made everybody happy. It is just not the same coming to the races without your teammate and best friend. I was actually without two teammates today (because) John (Force) didn't qualify. That made this whole day sort of weird."
Also carrying the banner for Team Castrol, Ashley Force improved her position in the points by knocking out one of her father's nemeses, Cruz Pedregon, in the first round.
"I didn't gamble at all this week," Ashley smiled, "(because) I wanted to save my luck for the track."
That luck ran out versus Jim Head in round two when she dropped the quarterfinal match-up, 4.979 to 4.856. She had to pedal her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang right off of the starting line but was closing on Head at the finish.
HIGHT CASHES IN WITH EMOTIONAL WIN IN SUMMITRACING.COM NATIONALS
Team Castrol/Auto Club of Southern California driver Robert Hight earned his first win of the season on his third trip to the finals with an emotional win over rival Ron Capps in the final round of the SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hight bested Capps with a less than glamorous final round pass of 5.126 at 282.90 miles per hour. Hight already had taken over second place in the POWERade points standings prior to the final, but the win moved him to within 88 points of Capps.
"I think I got it a little bit too far outside and it smoked the tires," Hight said of the final. "I never saw Capps, so I gave it a quick pedal (feathering of the throttle in an attempt to regain traction) and I saw the win light come on in my lane. It wasn't pretty ,but we'll take it. I haven't won a lot of races pedaling and I haven't had much luck in Vegas, so I think I had some help along the way today."
Hight could not control his emotions after picking up the win in his first trip back to the tour following Medlen's death from a testing accident in Gainesville, Fla.
"It is amazing," said the six-time tour winner. "I hated to sit out Houston (but) it is nice to get back out here with friends and family. It is amazing how many lives Eric touched because he made everybody happy. It is just not the same coming to the races without your teammate and best friend. I was actually without two teammates today (because) John (Force) didn't qualify. That made this whole day sort of weird."
Also carrying the banner for Team Castrol, Ashley Force improved her position in the points by knocking out one of her father's nemeses, Cruz Pedregon, in the first round.
"I didn't gamble at all this week," Ashley smiled, "(because) I wanted to save my luck for the track."
That luck ran out versus Jim Head in round two when she dropped the quarterfinal match-up, 4.979 to 4.856. She had to pedal her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang right off of the starting line but was closing on Head at the finish.
