NHRA Story » Force and Hight to honor Elvis in Bristol with special Funny Cars

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Force and Hight to honor Elvis in Bristol with special Funny Cars

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

John Force and teammate Robert Hight will honor the legacy of the King of Rock 'n' Roll during the 12th annual Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers at Bristol Dragway, June 15-17. In conjunction with Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. and Lionel NASCAR Collectables, John Force Racing will again feature Elvis on its Ford Mustang Funny Cars. Each driver will be competing in a specially designed Elvis 35th anniversary Ford Mustang Funny Car for this onetime special weekend. A number of fan promotions surrounding this event are also in the works.

“I love Elvis, and I am honored to be racing with him on the hood of my hound dog in Bristol. I always say I saw Elvis at 1,000 feet in Memphis, and I really believe that. Elvis was such an amazing performer and an icon. I remember listening to his music growing up and heading to the racetrack. I still make sure my girls all know his songs,” said Force, one of the most recent inductees into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Lionel NASCAR Collectables will offer 1/24- and 1/64-scale diecast cars of both Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage/Elvis 35th Ford Mustang Funny Car and Hight’s Auto Club/Elvis 35th Ford Mustang Funny Car. Each diecast is available for preorder at NHRAdiecast.com, home of the officially licensed diecast of the NHRA.

This will be the first time that Hight has driven an Elvis-themed Funny Car. The importance of representing a legendary figure is not lost on the 2009 NHRA Funny Car champion and current Full Throttle points leader.

“Elvis has fans all over the world, and to be associated with a person of that stature is amazing. Music has always been an important part of my life, and when you think of rock 'n' roll, the first name that pops into your head is Elvis. I won at Bristol last year, and it would be amazing to get my Auto Club/Elvis 35th Ford Mustang back into the winner’s circle this year,” said Hight.

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