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ROOKIE HIGHT POWERS INTO FUNNY CAR POINTS LEAD WITH DENVER WIN Rookie Robert Hight crushed the competition in the 26th annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals, qualifying No. 1, setting Bandimere Speedway track records for quarter mile time and speed, ...

Published: Jul 19, 2005, 5:29 AM

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ROOKIE HIGHT POWERS INTO FUNNY CAR POINTS LEAD WITH DENVER WIN

Rookie Robert Hight crushed the competition in the 26th annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals, qualifying No. 1, setting Bandimere Speedway track records for quarter mile time and speed, posting the quickest time in each round of competition and moving past his father-in-law and mentor, John Force, to take over the POWERade points lead.

Hight, 35, drove the Jimmy Prock-tuned Team Castrol/Automobile Club of Southern California Ford Mustang past the Toyota Celica of Phil Burkart Jr. in the Funny Car final, but it was his semifinal conquest of Gary Scelzi and he Oakley Dodge that made him the first rookie in 16 years to top the point standings.

Hight's heroics saved the day for Team Castrol whose other two drivers, Force and second year pro Eric Medlen, failed to survive beyond round one.

Force, who for the fourth consecutive race was plagued by mechanical problems in the Castrol GTX Start Up Ford, retained second place in points ahead of Scelzi despite a first round loss to Burkart. Medlen remained eighth in the standings at the wheel of the Castrol SYNTEC Mustang.

Quotable: "It was just weak. We don't know what the problem is, but (crew chiefs Austin) Coil and Bernie (Fedderly) are working on it. Robert saved us. That's the beauty of a three-car team. One car goes down or two and there's still another one." -- JOHN FORCE.

ERIC MEDLEN, 31, Castrol SYNTEC Ford Mustang Quotable: "It was a pretty disappointing weekend. We lost one run because we had a fuel leak at the starting line and that put us way behind. Lucky for us, there's another race this week." -- ERIC MEDLEN.

ROBERT HIGHT, 35, Automobile Club of Southern California Ford Mustang Quotable: "Unbelievable. Jimmy Prock is just unbelievable. We only run up here once a year so Jimmy said he's just going to put all these parts in a box and not pull 'em out until we come back here next year." -- ROBERT HIGHT.

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