HIGHT ‘MANAGEABLE AND FAST’ AFTER PRODUCTIVE FUNNY CAR TEST

Written by Susan Wade, photo by Roger Richards    Sat, 2019-09-28 08:00

 

Just like the last time he was on the dragstrip at World Wide Technology Raceway, near St. Louis, Robert Hight was ruling the NHRA Funny Car action.

Unlike the last time he was here, Hight was not on fire, not hitting the wall, and not ending up at the hospital with a broken collarbone Friday night.

But the John Force Racing driver and president still was the man to beat as the AAA Midwest Insurance Nationals opened.

Hight, driving the Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro, captured the tentative No. 1 qualifying position with a 3.877-second, 334.90-mph pass on the 1,000-foot course at Madison, Ill.

He gained five qualifying bonus points Friday and said “that’s going to put us back in the ballgame” after yielding his year-long lead at Reading to Jack Beckman. Fortunately for Hight, Beckman’s weekend didn’t start out so well. The Don Schumacher Racing driver evidently didn’t stop at the scale as required after his first run and forfeited his not-so-great-anyway 5.221-second elapsed time that reflected a loss of traction. But Beckman climbed back to the provisional No. 4 spot in the evening session.  

After trading places with tentative No. 2 driver Bob Tasca III, the early leader with a 3.958 who improved to 3.904 with the day’s second chance, Hight credited his Monday test session almost two weeks ago at Reading, Pa, for his strong showing Friday.

He said he rather expected that four-pass exercise to produce stellar numbers at St. Louis. He said he had “high hopes” for an outstanding start at this race that his primary sponsor also sponsors.

“There’s very few days you have a test session that’s as productive as that one,” Hight said. “We made four really good runs testing, and usually when you try to fix the car from spinning the tires, it slows down. But [crew chief] Jimmy Prock was not going to let this thing slow down. That’s not how you’re going to win the championship, and that’s not what you need in the Countdown. We were able to get it manageable and keep it fast.”  

The Nos. 3-9 racers in the order so far – John Force, Beckman, Matt Hagan, Tommy Johnson, Jonnie Lindberg, JR Todd, and Shawn Langdon – are separated by less than three-hundredths of a second. Terry Haddock sits on the 4.232-second bump spot. Eager to take advantage of the additional two qualifying sessions scheduled for Saturday are Dale Creasy and Jack Wyatt, who are unqualified after Friday’s action.

Hight said it’s “pretty exciting” to excel at his sponsor’s race, calling his performance Friday “a good way to shine and show off.”

Noting that three of the Countdown’s six races (including the Dallas event and the season finale at Pomona, Calif.) are AAA-sponsored events, Hight said that puts no pressure on him. He said the result is the opposite: “They keep me hoppin’, and it’s easier. It makes your days go by quicker. You’re not thinking about all the stuff you could be thinking about. You stay busy and it usually goes well.”  

Reflecting on last fall’s painful victory, Hight said, “We got the win. I knew the thing was not happy. I was racing Tim Wilkerson. You’re leading the points. It’s the final round. I look over into the right lane, and I didn’t see him. So I had to just stay with it. It finally blew up. The biggest deal is that nobody could tell me whether I won. That hurt worse than a broken collarbone.”
 

 

 
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