Last season, nothing went right for Robert Hight.

After dominating the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series in 2019 and then missing the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Hight had high expectations that his team would pick right up where they left off last season. But that never happened.

Hight limped to the finish line in 2021 with one of the worst seasons of his storied career, and nowhere was that poor performance more evident than the race at Bandimere Speedway one year ago. At that race, Hight never quite felt comfortable, struggling in qualifying and then immediately bowing out in round one. That race was a microcosm of a forgettable season for Hight, and one he circled as a must-win in 2022.

On Sunday, he did just that.

One year after what Hight described as one of the worst races of his entire career, the driver of the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro conquered that very same track to collect his fifth win of the season and fifth win at the facility at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

“I want to give all of the credit to the Auto Club team. Last year was probably the worst year we have ever had up on the mountain, maybe at any race ever. We never went down the track and it was just horrible. Jimmy (Prock) and Chris (Cunningham) have had a year to digest that, think about it and figure out what they wanted to do when we came back here,” Hight said. “In qualifying we just went down the track making really good runs and every time we got a little quicker. When you do that, it gives you a lot of confidence on Sunday that these guys have figured it out. They raced smart today.”

Hight’s smart race ended with an ironic Chevy versus Ford matchup at the Dodge-sponsored race as Hight squared off with Bob Tasca in the final for the second race in a row. There was some drama before the race started when Shawn Langdon’s Top Fuel machine spilled liquid on the racing surface in the prior pairing, leading to a delayed start for the Funny Car final.

In the race the pair were even at the hit, but Tasca began to haze the tires and slide out of the groove midway through the run as Hight powered past the driver of the Ford Motorcraft machine to earn his series-leading fifth win of the season.

Hight had a 4.065-second pass at 311.92 mph in the deciding round to earn the 58th win of his career and extend his championship points lead. Tasca crossed the stripe with a 4.263 at 272.89 mph.

“Good job to this Auto Club team. Their backs were against the wall all day,” Hight said. “We didn’t have lane choice the last two rounds and that was a masterful job of getting this racecar down the track in a little tougher lane. Hats off to the guys, they really earned their keep today.”

Hight added wins against Terry Haddock, Tim Wilkerson and John Force, with the latter producing one of the most exciting races of the afternoon. Force got to the finish line first in the semifinal matchup with a 4.033-second lap, but found himself out of the race as Hight won on a holeshot with a 4.041-second pass at 315.56 mph.

After the race Hight credited his team for making smart calls in the staging lanes that led to round wins. It was especially evident as the team watched their closest championship rival, Matt Hagan, misjudge the track and smoke the tires in round one in a losing effort against Jack Wyatt.

“They didn’t push it. They could have pushed it a little harder against Haddock in the first round and we might have been in the same boat as Hagan smoking the tires,” Hight said. “The last two runs we were in the lane that is not the choice of lanes. It is a little tougher over in the right and they just made it go down the racetrack and let me do my job.”

Tasca had wins over Chad Green, Ron Capps and Wyatt to earn back-to-back runner-up finishes.

Hight has now visited seven final rounds in 11 races this season, extending what has already been one of the best starts of his career. And he credits a firmer grasp on the setup as the leading factor behind his resurgent season.

“Last year was very disappointing. I just knew when we came back last year we were going to pick up right where we left off in 2019 and dominate and win races. That didn’t happen,” Hight said. “What is different this year is we are not changing everything every single week. We have a really good combination and we are fine tuning it and getting more consistent. And I don’t feel like we have peaked just yet. Sometimes we will make a run and Jimmy and Chris will look at each other like ‘wow, we didn’t expect it to run that good.’ I still think there is more left in this combination and we just have to find it.

“Everything from top to bottom is working right now. We have a great team, great crew chiefs and I have been driving well. To have five wins at this time in the year; I think you have a successful season if you have five wins total. We just have to stay focused and keep working at this and I think we can get better. The next 11 races are going to be even tougher.”

With the first leg of the famed Western Swing now belonging to Hight, the focus shifts to race two of the three-race tour of the western United States at a track in which he has won three-in-a-row.

“If we could (sweep the Western Swing) it would mean four wins in a row. That is pretty tough,” Hight said. “We just have to go out there and treat it exactly like Denver. We need to make good qualifying runs and race smart on race day. If we do that, the round wins are going to come. But this class isn’t getting any easier.”