A day after setting the NHRA national speed record at 319.60 mph, after qualifying fifth at 3.797-seconds, Brown bested No. 12 qualifier Chris “the Greek” Karamesines, six-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher, and 31-time winner Doug Kalitta before smoking the tires in the final round against Bernstein. The Matco Tools team now trails Schumacher by 81 points with two races remaining on the 2009 NHRA schedule.

Squaring off against the 80-year-old drag racing icon for the first time, Brown got the jump at the start in the Matco-backed rail to score the wire-to-wire win. Brown’s Brian Corradi/Mark Oswald-tuned Matco Tools/Toyota car cruised to a run of 3.827 seconds at 316.01 mph to score the win in the right lane at Virginia Motorsports Park. Karamesines’ white dragster posted a solid run of 3.994 at 297.61 in a losing effort. It was Brown’s 301st career round win and 80th in Top Fuel.

Facing off against the point’s leader for the seventh time this season, Brown scored his third holeshot win of 2009. The 16-time Pro Stock Motorcycle winner used a reaction time of .072 of-a-second and a pass of 3.833 at 313.88 to score the narrow win over Top Fuel racing’s winningest driver. The U.S. Army/Matco Tools rail posted a quicker, but losing lap of 3.827 at 317.64. Brown is now 5-2 against Schumacher this season. It was Brown’s 45th round win this year.

Racing in the semifinals for the first time in the Countdown to 1, Brown advanced to his ninth final round of the season by carding the wire-to-wire win over Kalitta. The Matco Tools flagship driver used a starting line advantage and a lap of 3.846 at 318.47 to hold off Kalitta’s pass of 3.886 at 310.70. Brown is now 3-1 against Kalitta this season.

Competing in his 47th career final round, Brown was defeated by the Budweiser car when the Matco Tools/SpongeTech car smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle. Bernstein sped to a lap of 3.844 at 307.09 to win his first race in more than two years. Racing in his ninth final round of the season, Brown’s bright blue car turned in a lap of 9.009 at 75.99. The Matco Tools team now has a mark of 46-17 in 22 races.

“This was a good rebound weekend for our MAR Matco Tools team,” Brown said. “We qualified well and our car ran great all weekend. We got the speed record again at 319.60 and we gained two rounds on Tony (Schumacher). That final round was a bummer, but it’s just one of those deals. That happens in racing. It’s all good though. We’re back in the race and we’re going to race hard at (Las) Vegas and Pomona and try and win this thing.”

The next NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event is the ninth annual Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Brown qualified second at the spring Las Vegas race at 3.878-seconds and raced to a semifinal finish.

Headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., Mike Ashley Racing fields the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by Antron Brown. MAR proudly represents racing partners Matco Tools, Lend America, DirecTV, Toyota, SpongeTech® Delivery Systems, Ringer’s Gloves, Go Fast! Sports, Goodyear, FRAM, Autolite, Impact! Racing, Connexions Sports and Entertainment, and Forward Sports Marketing (FSM).

Mike Ashley Racing supports Autism Awareness through their support of the Hyperbaric Therapy Center. A 2007 Centers for Disease Control report found that 1 in 150 children in America today have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and an estimated 1.5 million Americans and their families are now affected. Autism is a national health crisis, and Mike Ashley Racing is working to help educate the public about ways they can get involved. Visit the Heal Autism Now website for more information about how you can get involved at www.healautismnow.org.

E1 BROWN (.090) 3.827 ET, 316.01 MPH def. Karamesines (.148) 3.994 ET, 297.61 MPH
E2 BROWN (.072) 3.833 ET, 313.88 MPH def. Schumacher (.082) 3.827 ET, 317.64 MPH
E3 BROWN (.076) 3.846 ET, 318.47 MPH def. Kalitta (.112) 3.886 ET, 310.70 MPH
E4 Bernstein (.067) 3.844 ET, 307.09 MPH def. BROWN (.124) 9.009 ET, 75.99 MPH

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“That was a real big run for us. He is up there in the points and you know how much your teammates are counting on you. To be able to take him out was huge. Not so much for us but for the rest of the team like Robert and Ashley. It was big and I am glad we were able to get down the track. The bottom line is we got the win light and that is all that matters,” said Neff.

The value of Neff’s win was magnified when Ashley Force Hood dropped her first round race with Jeff Arend. This was the second consecutive race Arend has trailered Force Hood. While the points leader was upset with the defeat she was pleased that the loss was not devastating to her championship plans.

“It is frustrating to see (Jeff) Arend in the other lane having trouble. I think it would have been easier to accept if he had just gone right down his lane. He was able to recover his car and go. I was all over the place and not very happy. We are really bummed because we had been to the semis every race of the Countdown and to go out in the first round is tough. That hasn’t happened too many times to us this season and you definitely don’t want it to happen in the Countdown,” said Force Hood.

“No scenario with this Mustang seems to be the same. I pedaled it (lifting off the throttle) last weekend and it hooked up and went. This weekend it wouldn’t hook up and go. There are so many different factors that play a part. That is why it is exciting. That is why you can never think that just by looking at the eliminations ladder you will know what is going to happen. The number one qualifier went out the first round and the number one and two people in points went out by the second round. There is still time to gain back rounds if you do well in qualifying and go rounds in Las Vegas and Pomona. We definitely don’t need to get into any slumps at this time of the year.”

With two races left in the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing season Force Hood knows that her success is also dependent on her competition faltering in some cases.  

“The fortunate part is people around us got knocked out early as well like Tony (Pedregon) and (Jack) Beckman. It looks like all the hitters kind of struggled this weekend. That is strange that no one that came in on top ran away with anything. (Ron) Capps could have really hurt us if he would have won.”

In a John Force Racing versus John Force Racing first round match-up Robert Hight defeated team leader John Force. This was the second year in a row that Hight dispatched Force in the first round at Virginia Motorsports Park. The win gave Hight the points lead once Ashley Force Hood faltered in the first round. Unfortunately Hight was not able to extend his points lead when he fell in the second round to eventual finalist Tim Wilkerson.

“This track is very, very tricky. It is very good and it is so good you can’t get initial wheel slip. It is a fine line. You saw that last night with John’s Mustang blowing the tires off at the hit. My car almost did that now. We ran a 4.05 in the last session last night and the first round today we ran 4.10. It just got crazy upset in the second round. We have had the same trouble here over the years and we just haven’t figured it out like some of the other guys have,” said Hight who carries a thirteen point lead into Las Vegas.

“I am disappointed since we had a chance to distance ourselves and we let some guys back in here. If we would have just kept pace we would not have let them back in. We have had good success in Las Vegas and Pomona. The next two weeks will be very important for us to get everything prepared and do our jobs right so we give ourselves the best opportunity to win.”

In the race Force tried to get every advantage versus Hight considering Hight had a performance edge. As Force pulled his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang into the staging beams he deep staged on his teammate, an aggressive move especially against your son-in-law. At the top end it was Hight’s 4.104 besting Force’s 4.353.

“I had Robert aggravated at me because I went deep on him. I went down the race track. I had him covered until half track. It dropped a cylinder I think I need to confirm that, but it also lost a blower belt. He went around me at the other end. I was trying to get a win. A lot of people are saying you want Robert to win or you want Ashley to win; what about me? I fought hard to get into this Countdown and I made it. I am still struggling but (co-crew chiefs) Austin Coil, Bernie (Fedderly) and I have been together for a long time. We’ll get John Medlen in here and try and straighten this thing out. If nothing else we’ll get a hot rod we can race next year,” said Force.

Force made a crew chief switch leading up to Richmond in an effort to strength his team’s chances of moving up in the points. For the rest of the season Ford Drive One crew chief John Medlen will be working with Force’s crew chief brain trust Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly. Mike Neff will once again take the reins of his Mustang as crew chief and driver. Earlier this year Neff raced to the final in Phoenix pulling double duty.

“We have struggled so bad over here Austin, Bernie and myself that I wanted to put the brain trust back together and let them evaluate what is going on. We brought John Medlen back which he was always part of the brain trust. We knew Neff would be fine on his own. We left him over there with his group and we tried to see if we could shake things around over here,” said Force.

“When we lost Guido (Dean Antonelli) he’d worked with Coil and Bernie for fifteen years. Obviously he’d evolved and was able to do a lot of things working with them and that gave us a rounded program. We won the title in 2006. When he left in 2007 even though Coil and Bernie were tuning it Guido was a big part of making the calls on the starting line letting them know how the parts were performing. Guido was in the trenches and very much hands-on. Coil and Bernie were on the computers,” explained Force. “Medlen has always been hands on. So when we lost Guido and he went to Ashley, her car took off and our car went down. We were looking for help. We have good car chiefs here but what I needed was beyond a car chief. John Medlen was the best move to make to try and bring me around. I am still trying to get a shot at this title. I don’t even know if I have a shot. I think I’d have to win the next two races and have everybody in front of me fall off. That is going to be tough but I am still going to try just like I tried today.”

Neff quickly got back into crew chief mode but it did take a few rounds to get comfortable.

“It is busy. It is stressful especially when you haven’t done it in a while and you are not really familiar with the moves that you are making. You don’t feel real sure of what you are doing sometimes. You start making some runs and seeing results which helps you with the changes. You sort of feel your way though. I was nervous before the first run I wanted to make sure we had everything covered,” said Neff. “You just don’t really know what to expect. This car has been running god for a while and John Medlen had it set up so this was the easiest deal to step into. Medlen was here all weekend helping me. It just added more responsibility. I was thinking about the car all the time. When Medlen was making the tuning calls I just bopped around here with no worries until I got strapped in before the run. It just seemed like the wheels were turning non-stop this weekend. Medlen has available all weekend. It was not like he was gone.”

Neff managed to tune and drive his way to the semi-finals and a match-up with Tim Wilkerson. In the end Wilkerson had a little more power and Neff knew that a decision he made in the set-up had almost doomed him from the start.

“The positive thing here is we went down the track every run, seven times in a row. I made a change to the clutch and put more cutters in there today and I thought that would help. It appeared to be the wrong thing to do. It really fell off and then I was stuck. I couldn’t make it run like I wanted to. That was kind of a mistake on my part. We still learned a lot and we went a couple of rounds,” said Neff.

* * *

Race Winners At-A-Glance:

FUNNY CAR – Del Worsham, Chino Hills, Calif., Al-Anabi Toyota Solara, 4.091, 305.98 mph, def. Tim Wilkerson, Springfield, Ill., Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Mustang, 4.179, 281.13 mph.

TOP FUEL – Brandon Bernstein, Lake Forest, Calif., Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster, 3.844, 307.09 mph, def. Antron Brown, Brownsburg, Ind., Matco Tools dragster, 9.009, 75.97 mph.

PRO STOCK – Mike Edwards, Coweta, Okla., Young Life/ART Pontiac GXP, 6.526, 211.43 mph, def. Greg Anderson, Concord, N.C., Summit Pontiac GXP, 6.522, 212.03 mph.

PRO MODIFIED – Jay Payne, Ontario, Calif., 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, 6.259, 165.27 mph, def. Rick Stivers, Lexington, Ky., 2006 Dodge Stratus, disqualified, center line violation. 

* * *

Unofficial pro points following Sunday’s 4^th annual NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park:

FUNNY CAR – 1. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 2362; 2. Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 2349; 3. Tony Pedregon, 2314; 4. Ron Capps, 2299; 5. Tim Wilkerson, 2280; 6. Jack Beckman, 2276; 7. Bob Tasca III, 2259; 8. Del Worsham, 2227; 9. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 2216; 10. Mike Neff, Ford Drive One Mustang, 2203.

TOP FUEL – 1. Tony Schumacher, 2427; 2. Larry Dixon, 2380; 3. Cory McClenathan, 2359; 4. Antron Brown, 2346; 5. Brandon Bernstein, 2307; 6. Morgan Lucas, 2269; 7. Shawn Langdon, 2254; 8. Spencer Massey, 2225; 9. Doug Kalitta, 2218; 10. Clay Millican, 2093.

PRO STOCK – 1. Mike Edwards, 2524; 2. Greg Anderson, 2396; 3. Jason Line, 2373; 4. Jeg Coughlin, 2292; 5. Greg Stanfield, 2276; 6. Allen Johnson, 2244; 7. Johnny Gray, 2233; 8. Ron Krisher, 2222; 9. Kurt Johnson, 2184; 10. Rickie Jones, 2020. 

TEAM CASTROL Details:

JOHN FORCE, 60, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang
Qualifying position: 12^th at 4.112 seconds, 304.39 mph
Bonus qualifying points: 0
Race results: Lost to Robert Hight
Quotable: “I went down the race track. I had him covered until half track. It dropped a cylinder I think I need to confirm that but it lost a blower belt and there is not any way to make that happen. He went around me at the other end. I was trying to get a win.”  - JOHN FORCE

ASHLEY FORCE HOOD, 26, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang
Qualifying position: 6^th at 4.066 seconds, 311.27 mph
Bonus qualifying points: +7 (Quickest in Q1 and Q2, third quickest in Q3)
Race results: Lost to Jeff Arend.
Quotable: “The fortunate part is people around us got knocked out early as well like Tony (Pedregon) and (Jack) Beckman. It looks like all the hitters kind of struggled this weekend. That is strange that no one that came in on top ran away with anything. (Ron) Capps could have really hurt us if he would have won.” – ASHLEY FORCE HOOD

ROBERT HIGHT, 40, Auto Club Ford Mustang
Qualifying position: 5^th at 4.059 seconds, 309.56 mph
Bonus qualifying points: +3 (Second quickest in Q1 and third quickest in Q2)
Race results: Beat John Force. Lost to Tim Wilkerson
Quotable: “This track is very, very tricky. It is very good and it is so good you can’t get initial wheel slip. It is a fine line. You saw that last night with John’s Mustang blowing the tires off at the hit. My car almost did that now. We ran a 4.05 in the last session last night and the first round today we ran 4.10. It just got crazy upset in the second round. We have had the same trouble here over the years and we just haven’t figured it out like some of the other guys have.” – ROBERT HIGHT 

MIKE NEFF, 42, Ford Drive One Mustang
Qualifying position: 8^th at 4.085 seconds, 306.40 mph
Bonus qualifying points: 0
Race results: Beat Tony Pedregon, John Smith. Lost to Tim Wilkerson.
Quotable: “The positive thing here is we went down the track every run, seven times in a row. I made a change to the clutch and put more cutters in there today and I thought that would help. It appeared to be the wrong thing to do. It really fell off and then I was stuck. I couldn’t make it run like I wanted to. That was kind of a mistake on my part. We still learned a lot and we went a couple of rounds.” – MIKE NEFF 

* * * *

NEXT EVENTS:

COUNTDOWN TO ONE

9^th annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, Oct. 29- Nov. 1, Las Vegas, Nev.
45^th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov, 12-15, Pomona, Calif. 

* * * *

 FOLLOW JOHN FORCE RACING at www.twitter.com/jfr_racing.com or at www.johnforceracing.com.

 * * * *

CONTACTS:

Dave Densmore                                Elon Werner
Denswood Sports                             John Force Racing, Inc.
214-244-0008                                   214-244-1184
denswood@aol.com                         elon@johnforceracing.com

For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit: Castrol.com/US

Two days ago, Brown qualified his red and white Toyota/Matco Tools car in the No. 2 position at 3.836 seconds at 318.99 mph, the third fastest 1,000-foot speed. Brown owns the two fastest speeds at 319.75 and 319.22 mph (NHRA national record). It was the third time the former college track star qualified second this season. A day of rain showers forced NHRA officials to postpone Sunday’s final eliminations until Monday morning at 10 a.m. (CT).

After NHRA’s Safety Safari dried the Memphis track, Brown was paired up against No. 15 qualifier and part-time racer Tim Cullinan. Brown used an excellent .067 of-a-second reaction time to race the Toyota/Matco dragster to the early lead, but it was a short day for the seven-time Top Fuel winner when his car lost traction and smoked the tires. Cullinan’s blue dragster also lost traction, but the Illinois driver’s pass of 4.614 seconds at 270.97 mph was enough to score the round win in the left lane at the Memphis track. The Toyota/Matco rail labored to a run of 5.708 at 139.88 mph. After leading the standings and posting a mark of 42-13 in the 18-race regular season, that included five wins in eight final-round appearances, the Matco Tools flagship driver has a record of 1-3 in four rounds in the Countdown to 1. Brown trails Tony Schumacher by 120 points with three races remaining in the Countdown to 1.

“That was a tough pill to swallow,” Brown said. “We qualified great, but just seem to have the Countdown monkey on our back. I don’t know what it is. We qualified great for Toyota and Matco and this is tough for our MAR team. We’ll leave here with our heads held high and go to Richmond and do our best and try to get things back on track for Matco and all the distributors.”

The next NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event is the fourth annual Virginia Nationals, Oct. 9-11, at Virginia Motorsports Park near Richmond, Va. Last fall at the Richmond race, Brown qualified eighth and advanced to the quarterfinals. He posted his quickest pass of the 2008 NHRA season at 3.803-seconds at Richmond.

Headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., Mike Ashley Racing fields the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by Antron Brown. MAR proudly represents racing partners Matco Tools, Lend America, DirecTV, Toyota, SpongeTech® Delivery Systems, Ringer’s Gloves, Go Fast! Sports, Goodyear, FRAM, Autolite, Impact! Racing, Connexions Sports and Entertainment, and Forward Sports Marketing (FSM).

Mike Ashley Racing supports Autism Awareness through their support of the Hyperbaric Therapy Center. A 2007 Centers for Disease Control report found that 1 in 150 children in America today have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and an estimated 1.5 million Americans and their families are now affected. Autism is a national health crisis, and Mike Ashley Racing is working to help educate the public about ways they can get involved. Visit the Heal Autism Now website for more information about how you can get involved at www.healautismnow.org.

E1 Cullinan (.096) 4.614 ET, 270.97 MPH def. BROWN (.067) 5.708 ET, 139.88 MPH

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“We are bummed we didn’t win but we are pumped that we went to another semi-final. That is our third semi-final in the first three Countdown races. Our Mustang ran really good this weekend that semi-final was just a really good close race. That will sometime bite you. I don’t know if we would have done anything differently. That was one of our best runs of the day. We will just take that and know that we have a really good running car and even in these crazy changing conditions we managed to still have a handle on our Mustang. We’ll go to Richmond and I’ll assume the conditions will be cool like this. That is a plus for us. We’ll try and go some rounds there. Semis is our goal every race. If we can just semi-finalize them to death we’ll be good. You are getting a lot of points and if you can get to that second half of the race you are doing well,” said Force Hood.

As Force Hood leaves Memphis headed to Richmond she is a mere three points in front of brother-in-law Robert Hight and 26 points in front of Tony Pedregon. With the new qualifying bonus points in play this is realistically a lead of one round or less.

“The competition is so tight. You can’t be great in one area like having a great running car and not do a good driving job or vice versa. You have to be on your game in every aspect. Preparation of the car, driving, reaction times, every area has to be on target. I think that is why we are going to semis and we are leading the points because we have managed to figure out how to strive for that perfection and you are not always going to be perfect. If we try and continue what we are doing and know that we have figured something out then that will be our best game plan.”

Force Hood moved around the hottest driver in the category, her teammate Robert Hight and the Auto Club team, when she moved into the semis. Hight had one of the best cars the past month racing to three consecutive finals (Indianapolis, Charlotte, and Dallas) picking up two wins (Charlotte and Dallas) in the first two Countdown to 1 races. Hight moved from 12^th to 1^st place in the Full Throttle points standings and was looking to extend that points lead in Memphis.

He was in great position to do just that by qualifying No. 1 for the fourth time in five appearances but for the first time he failed to reach at least the semi-finals at Memphis Motorsports Park. Hight is also a believer in the race to the semis and have a shot at the championship plan Force Hood believes in. He also knows his team is moving in the right direction at the right time. The second round loss to Ron Capps was a tough pill to swallow but Hight’s 4.117 was just a little off versus Capps’ 4.109.

“Our Auto Club Ford Mustang is performing well. I am driving alright. We got out ran (versus Capps). We didn’t make any mistakes or smoke the tires. (Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) was racing a little safe. I didn’t get left on. They just shot a shot out there on us. First round it was a little fast and Jimmy softened it up. The second round it was a little too soft. It kind of stuck the tire leaving and had we had that happened in the first round it wouldn’t have done that and we would have fixed it and it would have beat him in the second round. You have to give (Capps) credit they went up there and made a good run. They got themselves right back into this points race. Ashley and I are fighting it out. Tony Pedregon will basically be right there with us if he wins this race. I am glad we have our two cars up at the top. We’ll just keep fighting,” said Hight.

“Other teams are always gunning for you. That is not a big deal. They should be gunning for us. I am gunning for them. That is how we got into this position and got back up on top. We work hard and do the right thing. We have to continue to do the right thing and we’ll be just fine.”

14-time NHRA Funny Car champion picked up a first round win over veteran Jim Head but he was also up-ended by Jeff Arend in the next round. Force had lane choice over Arend but he did not have enough power to get the win dropping a heart-breaker, 4.17 to 4.10. The loss positioned the winningest driver in NHRA history right behind the eight-ball with three Countdown races left. It is not a position Force is planning on getting comfortable in.

“The mindset for us is number one my race car isn’t where it needs to be. It has come around a long way. It was good enough to get me in the Countdown but it is not where I want it for a run at the title. I have done this too long just to be one of the players. I want to win or I don’t want to be here. Thank god for Ashley carrying the ball for the Force name and Robert Hight. They are showing what they can do for Castrol and Auto Club. Mac Tools, Ford, BrandSource, and Sanyo all these people that pay money they want performance out of all these Mustangs. I am going to give it to them,” said Force.

Finally, Mike Neff and his Ford Drive One Mustang had the toughest draw in the first round. As the only John Force Racing Mustang in the bottom half of the qualifying order they were starting at a disadvantage against Tony Pedregon. A win would have given Neff some much needed momentum.

“Today we had a close race in the first round. That can be the penalty for qualifying down at the bottom. You know you are going to get somebody that is running good. Tony Pedregon has been running good all weekend. We gave him a good race we just came up a little short. That is the luck of the draw,” said Neff.

Neff will gather the team together and head to Richmond with three races left in the Countdown. His number one priority now is getting that first career win as a driver.

“We want to win. We want to win a race. We want to finish strong. Winning a race and going some rounds in the Countdown would show that we are performing well. That is the main thing for us,” concluded Neff.     

* * *

Race Winners At-A-Glance:

FUNNY CAR – Jeff Arend, San Dimas, Calif., DHL Toyote Solara, 4.091 310.41 mph def. Tony Pedregon, Brownsburg, Ind., Nitro Fish Chevrolet Impala, 16.659 37.81 mph.

TOP FUEL – Morgan Lucas, Brownsburg, Ind., Geico/Lucas Oil dragster, 5.133 251.44 mph def. Tony Schumacher, Long Grove, Ill., U.S. Army dragster, 8.216 75.19 mph.

PRO STOCK – Jason Line, Troutman, NC, Summit Pontiac, 6.576 210.05 mph def. Ron Krisher, Warren, OH, Valvoline Chevrolet Cobalt, 6.602 208.68 mph (red-light, DQ)

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE – Michael Phillips, Baton Rouge, La., Suzuki, 6.935 193.54 mph, def. Eddie Krawiec, Brownsburg, Ind., Harley Davidson, 6.948 192.22 mph. 

* * *

Unofficial pro points following Sunday’s 22^nd annual O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park:

FUNNY CAR – 1. Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 2308; 2. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 2305; 3. Tony Pedregon, 2282; 4. Jack Beckman, 2235; 5. Ron Capps, 2220; 6. Bob Tasca III, 2206; 7. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 2184; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 2181; 9. Mike Neff, Ford Drive One Mustang, 2130; 10. Del Worsham, 2116.

TOP FUEL – 1. Tony Schumacher, 2369; 2. Larry Dixon, 2315; 3. Cory McClenathan, 2276; 4. Antron Brown, 2249; 5. Morgan Lucas, 2236; 6. Shawn Langdon, 2221; 7. Brandon Bernstein, 2191; 8. Spencer Massey, 2186; 9. Doug Kalitta, 2146; 10. Clay Millican, 2093.

PRO STOCK – 1. Mike Edwards, 2374; 2. Greg Anderson, 2313; 3. Jason Line, 2296; 4. Jeg Coughlin, 2260; 5. Allen Johnson, 2234; 6. Greg Stanfield, 2222; 7. Johnny Gray, 2199; 8. Ron Krisher, 2189; 9. Kurt Johnson, 2145; 10. Rickie Jones, 2020.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE – 1. Hector Arana, 2400; 2. Eddie Krawiec, 2392; 3. Michael Phillips, 2255; 4. Matt Smith, 2253; 5. Andrew Hines, 2249; 6. Douglas Horne, 2210; 7. Karen Stoffer, 2159; 8. Shawn Gann, 2157; 9. Craig Treble, 2136; 10. Matt Guidera, 2020. 

TEAM CASTROL Details:

JOHN FORCE, 60, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang
Qualifying position: 7^th at 4.116 seconds, 295.92 mph
Bonus qualifying points: 0
Race results: Beat Jim Head. Lost to Jeff Arend
Quotable: “The mindset for us is number one my race car isn’t where it needs to be. It has come around a long way. It was good enough to get me in the Countdown but it is not where I want it for a run at the title. I have done this too long just to be one of the players.” – JOHN FORCE

ASHLEY FORCE HOOD, 26, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang
Qualifying position: 3^rd at 4.103 seconds, 308.00 mph
Bonus qualifying points: +4 (Second quickest in Q3, Third quickest in Q2 and Q4)
Race results: Beat Del Worsham, Tim Wilkerson. Lost to Jeff Arend.
Quotable: “The competition is so tight. You can’t be great in one area like having a great running car and not do a good driving job or vice versa. You have to be on your game in every aspect. Preparation of the car, driving, reaction times, every area has to be on target. I think that is why we are going to semis and we are leading the points because we have managed to figure out how to strive for that perfection and you are not always going to be perfect. If we try and continue what we are doing and know that we have figured something out then that will be our best game plan.” – ASHLEY FORCE HOOD

ROBERT HIGHT, 39, AAA Texas Ford Mustang
Qualifying position: 1^st at 4.074 seconds, 310.70 mph
Bonus qualifying points: +6 (Quickest in Q1 and Q2)
Race results: Beat Justin Schreifer. Lost to Ron Capps
Quotable: “Other teams are always gunning for you. That is not a big deal. They should be gunning for us. I am gunning for them. That is how we got into this position and got back up on top. We work hard and do the right thing. We have to continue to do the right thing and we’ll be just fine.” – ROBERT HIGHT 

MIKE NEFF, 42, Ford Drive One Mustang
Qualifying position: 13^th at 4.188 seconds, 299.13 mph
Bonus qualifying points: 0
Race results: Lost to Tony Pedregon
Quotable: “Today we had a close race in the first round. That can be the penalty for qualifying down at the bottom. You know you are going to get somebody that is running good. Tony Pedregon has been running good all weekend. We gave him a good race we just came up a little short. That is the luck of the draw.” – MIKE NEFF

* * * *

NEXT EVENTS:

COUNTDOWN TO ONE
4^th annual Virginia NHRA Nationals, Oct. 9-11, Richmond, Va.
9^th annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, Oct. 29- Nov. 1, Las Vegas, Nev.
45^th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov, 12-15, Pomona, Calif.

* * * *

FOLLOW JOHN FORCE RACING at www.twitter.com/jfr_racing.com or at www.johnforceracing.com.

* * * *

CONTACTS:

Dave Densmore                                Elon Werner
Denswood Sports                             John Force Racing, Inc.
214-244-0008                                   214-244-1184
denswood@aol.com                         elon@johnforceracing.com

For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit: Castrol.com/US

A day after qualifying the Matco Tools/Toyota rail in the No. 6 position for the second time this season (Brainerd, Minn.), Brown outpaced Terry Haddock before falling to Top Fuel’s winningest driver, Tony Schumacher, in the second round. Brown now has a mark of 1-2 in the Countdown to 1 and 43-15 in 20 races this season with five wins and seven No. 1 qualifying awards.

The 1999 Pro Stock Motorcycle winner at Texas Motorplex earned his 300th career round win by holding off the part-time runner in the opening round. Brown used a tune-up from crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald to score the wire-to-wire win. The Matco Tools/DirecTV car carded a pass of 3.911 seconds at 312.78 mph to advance to the quarterfinals. Haddock’s dragster clocked a run of 3.985 at 300.20. Brown is now 2-0 against Haddock this season.

Squaring off against the six-time champion for the sixth time this season, two of the elite drivers in Top Fuel racing used almost identical reaction times and put on a great race until the Matco Tools/SpongeTech car lost traction allowing the U.S. Army dragster to speed by for the win in the left lane at the Motorplex. Brown’s Matco-backed rail slowed to a run of 4.113 at 266.00 in the unfavored right lane, while the Mike Green-tuned car used the quickest pass of the round at 3.915 at 315.49. Brown is now 4-2 against the U.S. Army car this year.

“Lane choice was very important here today at the (Texas) Motorplex and unfortunately for our Matco Tools team, we were a little short in the first round,” Brown said. “We made a really good run in the first round at 3.91, I think that was second quick, but we didn’t have lane choice. We were on a good run, but it just pulled the tires loose about mid-track. It’s ok though. We’re positive, we know we can win races and we’re going to go to Memphis next weekend and put on a good show for Matco Tools and Toyota.”

The next NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event is the 22nd annual O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals, Oct. 2-4, at Memphis Motorsports Park near Memphis, Tenn. Brown qualified ninth at the Memphis race last year and lost in the first round to Larry Dixon. He won the Pro Stock Motorcycle title at the 2004 Memphis race defeating Matt Smith in the final round.

Headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., Mike Ashley Racing fields the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by Antron Brown. MAR proudly represents racing partners Matco Tools, Lend America, DirecTV, Toyota, SpongeTech® Delivery Systems, Ringer’s Gloves, Go Fast! Sports, Goodyear, FRAM, Autolite, Impact! Racing, Connexions Sports and Entertainment, and Forward Sports Marketing (FSM).

Mike Ashley Racing supports Autism Awareness through their support of the Hyperbaric Therapy Center. A 2007 Centers for Disease Control report found that 1 in 150 children in America today have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and an estimated 1.5 million Americans and their families are now affected. Autism is a national health crisis, and Mike Ashley Racing is working to help educate the public about ways they can get involved. Visit the Heal Autism Now website for more information about how you can get involved at www.healautismnow.org.

E1 BROWN (.079) 3.911 ET, 312.78 MPH def. Haddock (.085) 3.985 ET, 300.20 MPH
E2 Schumacher (.078) 3.915 ET, 315.49 MPH def. BROWN (.077) 4.113 ET, 266.00 MPH

-30-

MAR on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MARnews  
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www.mikeashleyracing.com
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If you do not wish to receive e-mails from Mike Ashley Racing, please respond to tyerzyk@mikeashley.com.

DALLAS –- Robert Hight’s dramatic rise up the Full Throttle point standings reached a crescendo at the Texas Motorplex today when the perennial championship contender  won the 24^th annual O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals and grabbing the points lead for the first time in the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in the process. This was Hight’s third final in a row and his second consecutive win. He dominated all weekend grabbing the No. 1 qualifying spot, running top speed and getting the win for the AAA Texas Ford Mustang team.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s kind of like it hasn’t hit me yet. You know going to the three finals in a row is tough, but we kind of had the kiss of death against us this weekend. We were No. 1 qualifier and usually in Funny Car No. 1 qualifier doesn’t do well. To run the table here, it’s just a great tribute to my team. They did such an awesome job. We have four in a row (four races in four weeks to start the Countdown to 1) here. It is so exciting as a driver to be able to go back right out next week and maybe keep this streak going and keep what we have rolling because when you’re on a hot streak, you don’t want to go home and celebrate,” said the two-time Fall Nationals winner (2006). “You want to get back in that race car and keep it going. We have two more weeks. First two races of the Countdown couldn’t have been any better for us, [we] won them both and went from worst to first. It’s very exciting for me but it’s something I never thought was going to happen. I still didn’t ever lose faith in my team. You dream big but this is huge.”

Hight is savoring his time in the spotlight and he is reflective thanks to a chance encounter with Leif Helander from Sweden, Hight’s first round opponent today.

“Something kind of hit me this morning actually last night. My first round match up was with Leif Helander from Sweden. He came by after I came by the press room and he introduced himself. He told me his story. He reminded me of that movie, The World’s Fastest Indian. We have had controversy here lately. We have had drivers arguing. Talking with a guy like that puts it in perspective what we are doing out here,” said Hight.

“This guy is 65 years old and he has dreamed all his life to come over here to the NHRA, what we take for granted. He is living the dream. We forget why we are here and why we do this and how fortunate we are to be a part of NHRA drag racing. It was really refreshing to see that guy and watch him in the pre race. He didn’t know where to stand or where to go. He is just a great guy and I’d like to get to know this guy a little better. He is going to Memphis and I wish him all the best.”

After Hight defeated Helander he dispatched a Who’s Who of championship contenders starting with Tim Wilkerson, Ashley Force Hood and then Jack Beckman in the final. Hight gave a lot of the credit for his recent success to Ashley Force Hood’s crew chief tandem of Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglas and it solidified his confidence in his AAA Texas Mustang.

“This is probably the best race car I have ever had. We have won races and been close to winning the championship but to be this dominant and this consistent and steady. It is going down the track every single run. The only person to beat me was my teammate Ashley Force Hood in the final at Indy. We had a malfunction. It kind of blew up. It is not hurting itself. It is running fast we had top speed here. Jimmy Prock definitely has a handle on this Mustang. We still have to give it to Guido and Ron Douglas. Without them we would not be where we are now. They helped us and I thank God Jimmy listened to them and worked with them. That is what is great about our team we all listen and work together,” said Hight.

Ashley Force Hood raced to the semi-finals and a re-match of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals semis. Unfortunately for Force Hood today Hight had the upper hand and defeated the 2007 rookie of the year today. Force Hood was philosophical about her chances knowing that there is still a lot of racing left and consistency will be the key. That is one area she has dominated from the beginning of the season.

“If we can get to the semis for the last four we have a really good shot. There are just so many good teams right now. It changes every week. There is a mix of people getting to the finals and being runner-up. We are fortunate we keep being some of those people. I am surprised to see some of the other teams that were ahead of us in the points coming into the Countdown struggling now,” said Force Hood. “It is not like them and I am sure they are going to turn it around in these next four races. We need to stay on our game and not get ourselves into a rut. There is not time in four races to get in any kind of rut even if it is just for one weekend. We have to make sure we get qualified. Make sure we go rounds and I think that will be the trick. Whoever can be the most consistent kin the last four even if they are not winning all four, at least going some rounds, I think they have the best shot.”

She is also excited that Hight has been so successful since she knows every round he races gives her crew chiefs data to work with.

“That is what your teammates are for. We can give them info and they can give us info. It is just going to be crucial to get every little bit out of every run. Every round will count for all four teams. Robert and I have done really well these last three races but you can’t count out Mike Neff or my dad’s teams. The points are still so close that this could all switch around by next week. I think we have four cars that are running really strong we just need to keep everything working together. We need to stop running into each other. That would be the priority. We need to get our cars qualified at the top each race where we are not having to run each other early. I had to run Mike Neff last week and this week. I’ve had to run Robert also. The best situation is to not be meeting until the semis or the finals,“ concluded Force Hood.

Mike Neff grabbed his first career win over Cruz Pedregon in the first round after four previous attempts. The win moved the Ford Drive One team out of 10^th place in the Full Throttle point standings. The combination of the heat and at tricky track was a troublesome one-two punch for the team. Neff is looking forward to getting out of the heat and to more agreeable racing climates.

“It was an exceptionally warm weekend here. We struggled with keeping it from spinning the tires and putting cylinders out. That was our downfall. Looking at the weather it should be cooler in Memphis so basically we just will try and get back on track. The car has been running good. It was just a matter getting it consistent and keeping it running on eight cylinders. I think we will be in good shape for Memphis,” said Neff.

“It is still tight so there are absolutely opportunities to move up the points. One good race and you can pass quite a few guys. That is what we are shooting for. We just need one good one. We could move up into the middle and then see what happens.”

John Force and the Castrol GTX High Mileage team advanced out of the first round with a win over Grant Downing. In the second round they did not have lane choice against Jack Beckman and that spelled doom for the winningest driver in NHRA history. Only two round wins came from the right lane today, a second round win by Jerry Toliver over Bob Tasca III and a final round Top Fuel win by Tony Schumacher over nemesis Larry Dixon. 

* * *

Race Winners At-A-Glance:

FUNNY CAR – Robert Hight, Yorba Linda, Calif., Automobile Club of Southern California Ford Mustang, 4.218, 296.44 mph def. Jack Beckman, North Hills, Calif., Va., Valvoline Dodge, 4.271, 292.58 mph.

TOP FUEL – Tony Schumacher, Long Grove, Ill., U.S. Army dragster, 3.944, 312.86 mph, def. Larry Dixon, Indianapolis, Ind., Al-Anabi dragster, 4.232, 225.18 mph.

PRO STOCK – Greg Anderson, Mooresville, NC, Summit Pontiac, 6.684, 207.11 mph def. Johnny Gray, Artesia, NM, Dodge Stratus, 6.713, 206.64 mph

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE – Hector Arana, Milltown, Ind., Lucas Oil Buell, 6.979, 190.67 mph, def. Eddie Krawiec, Brownsburg, Ind., Harley Davidson, 7.005, 190.43 mph.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER – Marty Thacker, Robinson, Ill., 5.372, 265.43 mph, def. Shawn Cowie, Delta, British Columbia, Canada, 5.418, 265.74 mph.

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR – John Lombardo Jr., Brea, Calif., 2005 Chevrolet Camaro, 5.691, 252.61 mph, def. Alexis de Joria, Bronson, Fla., 2009 Ford Mustang, 5.861, 242.54 mph.

 * * *

Unofficial pro points following Sunday’s 24^th annual O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex:

FUNNY CAR – 1. Robert Hight, AAA Texas Ford Mustang, 2241; 2. Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 2228; 3. Jack Beckman, 2196; 4. Tony Pedregon, 2182; 5. Bob Tasca III, 2170; 6. Ron Capps, 2147; 7. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 2131; 8. Tim Wilkerson, 2129; 9. Mike Neff, Ford Drive One Mustang, 2099; 10. Del Worsham, 2085.

TOP FUEL – 1. Tony Schumacher, 2272; 2. Larry Dixon, 2245; 3. Cory McClenathan, 2218; 4. Antron Brown, 2207; 5. Shawn Langdon, 2188; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 2155; 7. Spencer Massey, 2152; 8. Morgan Lucas, 2124; 9. Doug Kalitta, 2074; 10. Clay Millican, 2062.

PRO STOCK – 1. Mike Edwards, 2288; 2. Jeg Coughlin, 2223; 3. Greg Anderson, 2208; 4. Allen Johnson, 2179; 5. Jason Line, 2177; 6. Greg Stanfield, 2169; 7. Johnny Gray, 2146; 8. Kurt Johnson, 2113; 9. Ron Krisher, 2093; 10. Rickie Jones, 2020.

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE – 1. Hector Arana, 2318; 2. Eddie Krawiec, 2291; 3. Andrew Hines, 2207; 4. Matt Smith, 2170; 5. Douglas Horne, 2156; 6. Michael Phillips, 2139; 7. Karen Stoffer, 2127; 8. Shawn Gann, 2125; 9. Craig Treble, 2104; 10. Matt Guidera, 2020. 

TEAM CASTROL Details:

JOHN FORCE, 60, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang
Qualifying position: 2^nd at 4.149 seconds, 302.41 mph
Bonus qualifying points: +4 (2^nd quickest in Q2 and Q3)
Race results: Beat Grant Downing. Lost to Jack Beckman 

ASHLEY FORCE HOOD, 26, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang
Qualifying position: 4^th at 4.173 seconds, 293.92 mph
Bonus qualifying points: +6 (Quickest in Q1 and Q3)
Race results: Beat Del Worsham, Mike Neff. Lost to Robert Hight
Quotable: “I am excited to go to Memphis. It is helping that we are doing well. We are second in the points. Everyone is really excited to be going to the next race. It might be different if we were struggling. Our momentum is up. My team is pumped. We are excited to get to that next race. We just want to keep plugging away at the rounds.” – ASHLEY FORCE HOOD

ROBERT HIGHT, 39, AAA Texas Ford Mustang
Qualifying position: 1^st at 4.109 seconds, 305.56 mph
Bonus qualifying points: +3 (Quickest in Q2)
Race results: Beat Leif Helander, Tim Wilkerson, Ashley Force Hood, Jack Beckman
Quotable: “This is probably the best race car I have ever had. We have won races and been close to winning the championship but to be this dominant and this consistent and steady. It is going down the track every single run. The only person to beat me was my teammate Ashley Force Hood in the final at Indy. We had a malfunction. It kind of blew up. It is not hurting itself. It is running fast we had top speed here. Jimmy Prock definitely has a handle on this Mustang.” – ROBERT HIGHT 

MIKE NEFF, 42, Ford Drive One Mustang
Qualifying position: 5^th at 4.181 seconds, 298.40 mph
Bonus qualifying points: 0
Race results: Beat Cruz Pedregon. Lost to Ashley Force Hood.
Quotable: “It is still tight so there are absolutely opportunities to move up the points. One good race and you can pass quite a few guys. That is what we are shooting for. We just need one good one. We could move up into the middle and then see what happens.” – MIKE NEFF

COURTNEY FORCE, 21, Sanyo Supercharged HD A/Fuel Dragster
Final qualifying: 5^th at 5.266 seconds, 272.83 mph
Race results: Beat Darryl Hitchman. Lost to Dale Carlson.
Quotable: “It was different not having Brittany on the other side of the trailer from me. All our guys were working so hard on our car. I am bummed that we didn’t get further. Getting to the second round was still pretty good. We had a malfunction and we figured out what the problem was so we are good to go. Once you win your first race I think it pushes you harder. It really makes me want to go more rounds and work harder. You can’t win them all so we’ll keep trying our best.” – COURTNEY FORCE

* * * *

NEXT EVENTS:

COUNTDOWN TO ONE

22^nd O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals, Oct. 2-4, Memphis, Tenn.
4^th annual Virginia NHRA Nationals, Oct. 9-11, Richmond, Va.
9^th annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, Oct. 29- Nov. 1, Las Vegas, Nev.
45^th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov, 12-15, Pomona, Calif. 

* * * *

 FOLLOW JOHN FORCE RACING at www.twitter.com/jfr_racing.com or at www.johnforceracing.com.

 * * * *

CONTACTS:

Dave Densmore                                Elon Werner
Denswood Sports                             John Force Racing, Inc.
214-244-0008                                   214-244-1184
denswood@aol.com                         elon@johnforceracing.com

For more information about Castrol-branded products and services, please visit: Castrol.com/US

In addition to the Forces, who drive 310 mile-an-hour Ford Mustang Funny Cars sponsored by Castrol GTX and Castrol GTX High Mileage on the pro drag racing tour, John Force Racing also features Robert Hight, driver of the Auto Club of Southern California Mustang, and Mike Neff, driver of the Ford Drive One Mustang.

John Force, the 14-time NHRA Full Throttle series champion, is a thirteen-time finalist and seven-time winner at Texas Motorplex, in Ennis, Texas, site of this weekend’s big drag race, the nineteenth event of the 2009 tour. Force was excited to make this partnership happen in these economic times.

 “We wanted to find a way to work with local Ford dealers this year,” Force said, “because in these hard economic times, we need to help out our sponsors in any way we can.  We are proud to be a part of the Ford family and we want to encourage all our fans to go out to Doug Stanley Ford after this race and test-drive a new Mustang, Flex, Edge, Fusion or other great Ford car or truck.”

Doug Stanley Ford President, Tim Stanley was equally thrilled to be teaming up with one of the biggest names in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing.

“John Force is drag racing. He’s a Ford guy. What I really respect him as a business man. He runs his operation a lot like we run Doug Stanley Ford. It is like one big family. John treats his fans so well and that is huge. I have never missed a race at the Texas Motorplex,” said Stanley.

“The biggest tie-in for us is the high level performance John Force Racing has achieved crosses over to Doug Stanley Ford and our customer service which ties right in with the high quality of Ford products we have right now,” added Stanley. 

Doug Stanley Ford is located at 515 N-I35E, DeSoto, TX 75115, (888) 715-6198 or visit them on the web at www.fords247.com. Just a short 15-minute drive from Dallas and other surrounding DFW areas, Doug Stanley Ford offers a large inventory of new and used Ford cars, trucks, and SUVs at best deal prices. At Doug Stanley Ford, they do things a little different. Their friendly, knowledgeable Doug Stanley Ford staff works alongside the customer to find and finance the perfect car for their needs and for their wants. As a full service dealer with an onsite DFW Ford Service and Parts department ready to assist in the maintenance of your vehicle.