Robert Hight raced to his fourth Funny Car victory of the season Sunday, breaking the national speed record with a 316.45 mph run in the Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals.
Hight gained momentum with a consistent string of powerful runs throughout the rain-delayed day of racing and finished off final-round opponent Jack Beckman with a 4.092-second run at 314.90 mph in his Ford Mustang.
Hight's final-round speed certified his earlier performance of 316.45 as the national record.
''We finally got Bristol. How about that?'' Hight about his 22nd career victory. ''I've had trouble with all the races that start with ''B'' like Bristol or Brainerd, but we got this one. There's nothing better than to win this race since it's now Ford sponsored. We made eight great runs, and when we needed it the most, Jimmy (Prock, crew chief) pulled it off. I've never set any kind of a record before so that's pretty cool, too. I know there are no points for a speed record, but it's still cool to have.''
Larry Dixon (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) also won at Bristol Dragway.
In Top Fuel, Dixon claimed his first win of the season and his sixth Father's Day victory, outrunning Antron Brown in the final round. Dixon took his 61st career victory and second at Bristol Dragway with a 3.836 at 318.09 to finish just in front of the hard-charging Brown, who had a 3.851 at 306.19 in his dragster.
Edwards claimed his third consecutive Bristol Dragway win and 30th of his career and in the process denied Erica Enders a milestone victory as she tried to become the first female to win in the history of the 41-year-old factory hot rod category. Enders left the starting line first in her Chevy Cobalt, but the car lost power near mid-track, while Edwards sped down the track to finish in 6.685 at 205.79 in his Pontiac GXP.
