Funny Car driver Robert Hight secured his second No. 1 qualifying position of the year and 45th of his career on Saturday, setting himself up for a shot at his third straight victory of the season Sunday at the Texas Fall Nationals, the second of six races in the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Shawn Langdon qualified No. 1 in Top Fuel, Erica Enders-Stevens took the top spot in Pro Stock and Hector Arana Sr. led the Pro Stock Motorcycle division. Rain washed out both of Friday's qualifying sessions and competitors made two runs Saturday.
Hight broke the elapsed time track record with a performance of 4.052 seconds at 311.85 mph in his Ford Mustang. He will open eliminations against two-time event winner Del Worsham.
''It's a lot of fun right now. It couldn't happen at a better time than at our sponsor's race,'' Hight said. ''That was a good run. (Crew chief) Mike Neff is not one of these guys that goes up there and throws a Hail Mary.''
Langdon powered his dragster to his fifth No. 1 qualifier of 2013 and 11th of his career with a leading performance of 3.819 at 321.04. Langdon will meet T.J. Zizzo in the first round of eliminations.
''It was huge to come out here and make as strong a run as we did in the first session,'' Langdon said. ''It was our goal to try to bring the deficit behind (points leader) Spencer Massey to less than one round. Now our focus is to win the race.''
Enders-Stevens earned her first No. 1 qualifier of the season and sixth of her career with a run of 6.557 at 210.93 in her Chevy Cobalt. She will take on fellow Texan Chris McGaha in the first round.
Arana Sr. claimed his second No. 1 qualifying position of the season with a pass of 6.846 at 195.42 on his Buell. He will face Michael Phillips in the opening round.
