Hight outraces wind, notches fastest time in Funny Car qualifying

Robert Hight is really worried.

He hopes the Magic Johnson-led group that bought the Los Angeles Dodgers this week has enough money left after its $2.15 billion purchase to obtain quality players.

Hight should save all his concerns for the Dodgers because all seems to be going well on the racetrack.

He continued the hot start to his season Friday by placing first in Funny Car qualifying at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's The Strip. Given the strong winds forecast for today, Hight's time of 4.132 seconds at 310.42 mph has an excellent chance of holding up for Sunday's eliminations.

"That is huge," Hight said. "With the winds coming, who knows what (today) is going to bring?"

Morgan Lucas, who won three weeks ago in Gainesville, Fla., placed himself at the top in Top Fuel with a 3.817-second run at 321.96 mph.

Jason Line's 6.659-second run at 207.34 mph nabbed him the first spot in Pro Stock.

All three Full Throttle Series classes will have two qualifying runs today, at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Lucas said the expected winds could cause sand and dirt to litter the track, giving the top finishers Friday an advantage.

Fellow drivers agreed.

"I'll sleep better tonight knowing we're faster than everybody else," Line said. "It's a big deal."

Hight came to Las Vegas off victories at Phoenix and Gainesville. He is second in the standings, seven points behind Mike Neff.

The 2009 Funny Car champion won five times last season and finished in the top 10 in the standings for the seventh consecutive year, so success isn't new to him.

But Hight doesn't assume victories will come, and the break between Gainesville and Las Vegas allowed worry to creep in.

"You get rusty, and you're just not as sharp," Hight said. "We get here this morning and put the motor together, and we had problems. We were within 15 minutes before the session was going to fix all these problems.

"I want to be out here racing every week."

The 42-year-old Hight might change his mind if he wins Sunday. That will be yet another victory following a break, and the next stop is in two weeks in Charlotte, N.C.

The week off will allow him to think about his beloved baseball team.

"I do hope the Dodgers saved a couple of million to get a couple of players," Hight said. "I hope they didn't break the bank. Wouldn't that be embarrassing to know that you were $600 million higher than the next highest bid? It would make you feel a little stupid.

"They didn't want that one to get away."

Hight knows what he's talking about. He hasn't let much get away lately.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.