ENNIS, Texas -- Robert Hight moved within one point of Funny Car leaders Cruz Pedregon and Jack Beckman in the standings Saturday after qualifying his Auto Club of Texas Ford Mustang in the top spot in 4.063 seconds, at 301.81 mph.
A quick look down the point standings show the driver who goes deepest into eliminations Sunday will leave with the lead in the Countdown to the Championship.
Hight has hovered just below the leaders in the regular season and could now, realistically, regain the top spot for the first time since Gainesville in March.
"With this Countdown, not qualifying or first-round losses just kill you," said Hight, whose 2007 title hopes basically ended with a DNQ at this event.
"It's obvious. But we don't have an easy one tomorrow, with Jim Head. To be honest, I think he has a winning record against me. There are no easy ones. We're going to have to earn this tomorrow to win it."
Hight won at this track in 2006 after qualifying No. 1. This top qualifying award was his fourth of the year, 27th of his career and second in Dallas.
In Top Fuel, Tony Schumacher and Rod Fuller will square off in Round 1 from the Nos. 8 and 9 spots, respectively, as do teammates Doug Kalitta and Hillary Will. All four are in the Countdown to the Championship. Larry Dixon hung on to earn his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the year, the 31st of his career and his third at Texas Motorplex. He also led the Top Fuel category into race day in Dallas in 2001 and 1999.
In Pro Stock, Jeg Coughlin's second No. 1 qualifier of the season, the 14th of his career and his third in Dallas came on the heels of a 6.631 at 207.56 in his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt. Eddie Krawiec drove his Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 6.970 at 191.65 to earn his third No. 1 qualifier of the year and the third of his career in Pro Stock Motorcycle.