The weekend didn’t have a perfect script for Robert Hight.
 
The past world champion driver’s best run in three qualifying laps was a 4.218-second elapsed time, leaving him No. 9 on the qualifying ladder at the Arizona Nationals near Phoenix.
 
However, Hight wasn’t worried about his plight because of his renowned crew chief Jimmy Prock – and he was right. 
 
Hight mowed through the competition on Sunday, defeating reigning world champ Ron Capps in the final race at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

In the finals, Hight clocked a 3.930-second elapsed time at 328.62 mph, while Capps slowed to 5.534 seconds after smoking the tires.

“You just never give up when you have Jimmy Prock as your crew chief,” Hight said. “You just know that you’re one run away from fixing this thing and being back to where we need to be. He races aggressively. He wants low E.T. every round, and we had that (Sunday). We had four rounds where we were low E.T. That’s Jimmy Prock-style racing and it makes my job easy. I just have to go up there and stand on the gas and do my job and keep it in the lane.

“It’s pretty impressive that they didn’t give up. We were planning on testing (Monday), and we still are, and we were kind of thinking we might abandon this setup. We went to Gainesville (Fla.) in February, and we flew. We made some great, great runs, but we were in great conditions. You get to a little warmer stuff, and we are still learning, and you think maybe this will not work with these warmer conditions and it is only going to get warmer in the summer. But I’m really proud of the guys to keep picking at it and getting it where they want.”

This was Hight’s 62nd national event win, the second in a row at the Arizona Nationals, and the third of his career at the facility, as the other came in 2012.

 Hight’s victory parade consisted of wins over his boss, legendary John Force, No. 1 qualifier Bob Tasca III, Chad Green, and then Capps.
“We better get used to (no gimmes),” Hight said. “This whole Funny Car field is stacked from top to bottom, and to win one of these races, you are going to have to go through four hitters, and we did that (Sunday).

“You can just tell when Jimmy is on to something. He has the confidence, and that gives me confidence. I drove it until I saw the win light on the scoreboard (against Capps). Then there was a lot of static on the radio because everyone was wanting to talk at the same time.”

When it comes to racing Capps, Hight welcomes lining up against someone he respects.

“I have raced Ron for a lot of years,” Hight said. “I think he started racing ten years before I did, and I definitely have a lot of respect for him. He’s ice-cold. He doesn’t make mistakes. You know when you go up there against him, and no matter what team he has been on, he’s been tough. We have to put last year behind us. If we keep focusing on last year, we are not going to get where we want this year. This is one battle we won but we really want to win the war. He will bring the best out in us, and I’m sure we will bring the best out in him.”

For years, the primary sponsor on Hight’s Funny Car has been Auto Club of Southern California, but that switched to Flav-R-Pac Frozen Fruits and Vegetables in 2023.

“This is my first race without Auto Club of Southern California, and I don’t even recognize my own car,” Hight said. “But Flav-R-Pac and Frank Tiegs stepped up and bought us, and it is amazing to get the win here with them. I have won before when Frank is here and tried to give him the trophy and he will never take it, so this trophy is going to his wife. She will take it.”

Hight had a tough two races before Phoenix as he lost the 2022 season world championship to Capps by three points and then his Funny Car broke in a second-round loss to J.R. Todd in Gainesville.

“This win is huge,” Hight said. “Some of the stuff we are working on right now is to fix what happened to us in Pomona, (Calif.) last year. It kind of goes back to the final round in Las Vegas where (Matt) Hagan got us and then Pomona, we lost second round. Jimmy Prock didn’t go into the offseason just thinking we are on cruise control and we won eight races and let’s do it again. He’s trying to fix what went wrong last year, so this win is big.

“We went low E.T. the first round in Gainesville, and I really thought we had a car that could win that race, but we didn’t get the chance because we had a mistake. I’m proud of the guys for getting everything back and working hard and they are ready to conquer this mini-Western Swing we are on.”

Hight took a moment to discuss why Wild Horse Motorsports Park has been good to JFR. John Force won a record eight times in Phoenix.

“We used to come here for years and years and tested, and we have made a lot runs here,” Hight said. “I love coming here. The fans are great. Out here in the desert, there’s nothing like the sunsets you have out here. It is a fun place. I got my first round here. You hope it isn’t the last one, but if it is, ‘Hey, we got the last Wally.’ I will say this to see the crowd we had for three days that pumps you up as a driver. They are back in the pits with you and that’s just what makes NHRA drag racing awesome. I hope the powers to be saw that and reconsider because we have a good product here. The fans come out to see this, and they were treated to some great racing.”

When Hight advanced to the Phoenix semifinals, he earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, a new program that debuted in Phoenix and will continue at the Lucas Oil Winternationals next weekend in Pomona.
 
During Saturday’s qualifying sessions, the drivers who reached the semifinals in Phoenix will re-run the semifinals and final, earning additional purse and bonus points.
 
“It is exciting, and it is going to be a new ballgame for us,” Hight said. “I never ever really raced on Saturdays. It will be a different mindset. You are going to have to focus a little differently during normal qualifying runs because reaction times really don’t matter at all. Now, it is for something. Money and bonus points that go toward a championship. When you lose a championship by three points, those little points are going to add up, and we are going to try and get as many as we can.”