It is safe to say that Robert Hight has been very un-Robert-Hight-like as of late on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series tour.

After gaining the points lead following a win in Phoenix in the second race of the year, Hight then suffered back-to-back first-round losses in the next two races, leaving the team scrambling for answers just four races into the season.

But after a test session in Las Vegas and a slew of changes thrown at the car, Hight came into this weekend’s Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway with a renewed confidence. And that confidence paid off in a big way with his second win of the season Sunday.

“We did change the car around,” Hight said. “We had two first-round losses in a row. We stayed and tested Monday in Vegas, and we actually had some ignition problems. I’m thinking we are not going to get the data that we need with the clutch because the engine didn’t run right, but Jimmy (Prock) said we are going to be fine. To come here and make basically seven respectable runs down the track, I’m proud. I’m proud of him just easing into it and not overdoing it and giving me a chance to win. You can see it in his eyes that there is more left in it. When you are up against the group we had in the final, whoever comes out on top is a big deal.”

The quartet of drivers that Hight referenced in Sunday’s Funny Car four-wide final round also included Hight's team owner, John Force, in addition to Ron Capps and Alexis DeJoria. While all four drivers were capable of taking home the Wally trophy, in the end it was Hight left standing on a holeshot. Hight drove his Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet Camaro to a 3.888-second pass at 328.30 mph, just nipping DeJoria, who had low elapsed time of the round with a 3.872 at 333.41 mph, but was the slowest off the line of the quad.

Capps, who had the quickest reaction time of the bunch, was third with a 3.932 at 331.85 mph, while Force saw his attempt at a third straight Charlotte four-wide win fall short with a 3.924, 329.26 mph to place fourth.

“When you have the team that we have, it is not just the Flav-R-Pac team that I drive for,” Hight said. “We’ve got four really good teams that work together. When you have this team behind you, you always have confidence no matter what happened last week. With Jimmy Prock as your crew chief, I always feel like I’m one run away from being low ET. These wins come with great people, and we couldn’t do it without the group that we have.”

Sunday’s win was especially challenging for Hight as he, like the rest of his competitors, had to wait through a lengthy delay after rain showers washed over the track moments before the start of first round for the Funny Car category. After nearly four hours of delays, Hight finally got suited up for his first hit at the track, and was impressed by the work that the NHRA did to get the track ready for the remainder of the event.

“It is not easy,” High said of the delay. “You have to get up for these runs. You can’t stay ready like that all day long. You have to relax a little bit and hope it quits raining and then get back up all over again. It is not what you want to do. You have already waited long enough for first round, you just want to get the show on the road.

“And then for the car to go down the track every run -- really, hats off to the NHRA and the Safety Safari. They have had challenging conditions all weekend. They just did a great job. There was a lot of great side-by-side racing with all four cars, all four lanes. It is tough enough to do two lanes, but to do four, they earned it this weekend. They deserve to be sitting up here.”

After the lengthy delay, Hight got back up and advanced out of his first quad alongside Mike McIntire Jr. with a 3.926 at 329.10 mph, defeating Alex Laughlin and J.R. Todd in the process. He then produced low elapsed time of the second round with a 3.875 at 331.28 mph to advance to the final alongside Force, while sidelining McIntire and Cruz Pedregon.

While Hight’s recent struggles were turned around with the win, his chief rival in points leader Matt Hagan was suddenly bit with the same bug. Hagan lost in the first round to DeJoria and Chad Green, running into trouble during his run. Thanks to that loss, Hight was able to make up ground in the championship battle as he went on to earn the 63rd win of his career.

“You get excited when you hear he lost first round. Then you know the door is open and the opportunity is there,” Hight said. “You can’t let that affect you. You have to stay focused and take it one run at a time. In the first round I had a horrible light, but got my act together second and third and we got the job done.

“It is 40 points to the winner, so that is a big swing here. It was a big day for us. We needed this to get right back in the hunt. He and I are the only two that have won this year. He’s got one on me and I have to catch him.”