Welcome back to Chicago, Robert Hight.

The track record holder in Funny Car at Route 66 Raceway -- and owner of back-to-back final round appearances at the facility at the most recent nitro races held there back in 2018-19 == Hight looked like he hadn’t missed a beat in his return.

Sporting a new look on his 11,000-horsepower machine, Hight drove his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car to the top spot Friday in the first NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series race held there in four years. His 3.831-second pass at 335.07 mph reset both ends of the track record as Hight took the early advantage at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance.

“That actually surprised me,” Hight exclaimed. “Going up there, Jimmy (Prock) and Thomas (Prock) were talking about running an 87 or 88, which is what we just ran in the final at Charlotte. We figured that would be a good baseline to get us qualified and start the weekend. But this surprised (Jimmy).

“He kept saying in Charlotte, ‘There is so much more left in this thing, and if it would just run from the 60 to the 300 and not fall in a hole, this thing will pick up three hundredths.’ And, sure enough, it did. It was just a smooth run, and when they are smooth like that, they honestly don’t feel that fast. It was actually kind of boring.”

The most recent race winner on the NHRA tour, Hight’s 3.831-second lap was his best of the season and puts him in an excellent position to pick up his first top=qualifier award of the season if it holds up on Saturday.

“They didn’t tell me on the radio what I ran, so I had to ask, and when they said 83, I had to double check that I actually heard them right,” Hight said. “What is amazing is to come back to this racetrack that we haven’t raced on in this many years and just pick up and run like that. It is pretty impressive.”

Cruz Pedregon slotted in behind Hight with a seemingly pedestrian 3.889 at 327.59 mph. J.R. Todd was third with a 3.906 at 333, while John Force (4.442) and Tim Wilkerson (5.323) rounded out the top five.

Unfortunately, only three cars made a full pull Friday night under the lights, something Hight chalked up to a lighting-quick racetrack that took precision tuning to navigate.

“We had really good, tight conditions tonight,” Hight said. “We went 290 miles per hour in the eighth, and that is really good for a Funny Car. The track is out there, but if you are a little on the weak side or miss it a little you are going to shake and not get through it. It is a fine line.”

Hight was especially pleased to perform so strongly with the blue-and-black Cornwell Tools colors in front of numerous company executives.

“That was what really made this special,” Hight said. “I think there were about 15 Cornwell people back there in the sponsor viewing area. They have been so excited about this and, after Charlotte, I got to go to Cornwell and visit their two factories, and I met so many great people. It makes me really want to do a good job for them and work hard for them because all of those folks work hard and love what they do.”

While the opening stanza in Hight’s triumphant return to Chicago was certainly memorable, the challenge is far from over. With so few drivers turning a competitive lap on Friday, anything can happen with two more opportunities on Saturday's docket. The Funny Cars will close pro qualifying action.

“If we get some conditions similar to this, you know Jimmy is going to push, and you might see a record like the 2017 era,” Hight said. “Right now, tomorrow is going to be more like the conditions we are going to face on Sunday. I think we are going to have some sun out and the track is going to heat up a little bit. While tonight is very important for our qualifying position, tomorrow is very important for setting ourselves up to race on Sunday with four really good runs.”