In Texas he defeated team Schumacher’s “Fast” Jack Beckman in the final round, after outrunning 60-something-year-old Leif Helander, Tim Wilkerson and Ashley Force Hood in earlier rounds. Hight beat another Schumacher driver, Matt Hagan, in the final round to win the NHRA Carolinas Nationals near Charlotte, N.C.

In a post race interview Hight said, “The first two weeks of the Countdown couldn’t have been any better for us.”  

He ran a 4.218/296.44 mph pass in his Jimmy Prock-tuned, Auto Club-backed Mustang to hold off Beckman’s Dodge Charger in the final, which finished in 4.271 at 292.58. 

“It’s unbelievable,’ Hight said. “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 racecar 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.”

Schumacher defeated rival Larry Dixon in the Top Fuel final to get the points lead for the first time this season. Schumacher finished with a 3.944/312.86 in the favored left lane in his U.S. Army dragster for his fifth win of the season and 61st of his career, while top qualifier Dixon in the less desirable right lane trailed with a 4.232 at 225.18 in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster. 

“This was huge,” said Schumacher, who advanced to the final by outrunning T.J. Zizzo, Antron Brown and Spencer Massey in the first three rounds. “Beating Larry Dixon and Alan Johnson and my old team is just special; if you can’t rise to the occasion against guys like that who you know are great like that, you don't belong in here racing cars.”