Robert Hight knows how to make a fast statement.

Just consider his blast Friday night during qualifying for the NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.

“When you have Jimmy Prock as your crew chief, he tries to get everything he can out of that race track,” Hight said. “When I lifted at the other end of the track, I knew it was fast, and quick.”

Hight got a pleasant surprise when he saw his time.

“I saw the 3.80, but I didn’t know it went 339 – almost 340 – until they told me on the radio,” High said.

That run of 3.807 seconds at 339.87 mph in the night qualifying session soon became the rage of the NHRA world and social media. It was the third quickest in history, while the speed was the fastest in the history of the NHRA.

Earlier in the day, Hight struggled badly with a run of 4.507 at 184.62

“When you mess up the first run and don’t go down the track, you would think you’d put a baseline setup in the car,” Hight said.

Of course, Prock is one of the top masterminds in the sport and he cooked up a formula for serious speed.

“That was an awesome run for us,” Prock said. “You know, this place is great. We’re in California. The air comes in at night, and these things make some power.”

In his post-race press conference, Hight attempted to explain the sensation of nearly reaching the magical 340 mph mark.

“These things will run 340 mph, we know they can do it,” Hight said. “When you can say you ran the fastest speed in NHRA history, that’s pretty awesome. And Sonoma Raceway can say it happened here. This thing was singing down there. It’s hard to explain to everybody, but it’s the coolest noise when you hear that nitro engine running up that kind of rpm.”

The “Prock Rocket” has set the top seed in eight events since returning to the Hight team in March while Hight has recorded nine of his fastest 10 career runs.

Hight, who has 51 career poles, earned the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot. He’s now looking to back up his recent win at Denver.

Jack Beckman ran a 3.854 at 328.70 to earn the No. 2 spot with Courtney Force at No. 3 after a run of 3.889 at 327.03 in her Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro.