Auto Club driver Robert Hight smashes NHRA speed record with blistering pass at Heartland Park Topeka

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 19) – No one in the long history of the NHRA had ever gone as fast as Robert Hight did Friday at Heartland Park Topeka.
Hight drove the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car to a pass of 3.826 seconds at 337.66 mph during Friday’s lone qualifying session for the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals. That set the national record for speed, as well as the track record for elapsed time.

Hight’s record run came after a lengthy rain delay, and great track preparation by the NHRA.
“We had killer conditions,” Hight said. “You’ve got to give it to the NHRA Safety Safari: All the water, all the rain we had on the race track, getting it dry and getting it in shape that you can make a run like that. That was stout. You can run big records, big speeds, big ETs here in Topeka. The racing surface is unbelievable. Wish we came here more than once. It was a perfect storm today.”
Friday’s second session was canceled because of a powerful thunderstorm heading toward Topeka. The bad weather should clear out for Saturday, where Hight will be gunning for his 50th career No. 1 qualifying spot.
“Tomorrow, we’re looking at low-60s, cloudy, and the track’s going to be awesome, probably even better than it was today because there’s going to be more race cars running down it,” Hight said. “It could be quicker and faster. I don’t believe if I don’t run quicker than the .826 that I’ll be in here tomorrow night.”
Hight and crew chief Jimmy Prock were reunited earlier this year, and Hight has shown plenty of speed in their five previous races together. Hight went to the final round at Houston and the semis at Atlanta, while qualifying second twice and fourth once.
“We’ve been creeping up on this for a while,” Hight said. “We’ve gone 291 mph at half-track before. If we could put that together with the back-half we just ran, there’s a chance we could go quicker and faster.
“I’ve spent a lot of years with Jimmy as my crew chief. You just know when these kinds of conditions are there that he’s swinging for the fence.”
Team owner John Force, in the PEAK Coolant and Motor Oil Chevrolet Camaro, qualified No. 9 with a run of 6.542 at 99.57 mph, while Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro driver Courtney Force was No. 14 with a pass of 9.524 at 54.97 mph.
Brittany Force put the Monster Energy Top Fuel dragster in the No. 2 spot with a stellar run of 3.730 at 329.02 mph.
Two more qualifying sessions are slated for Saturday. Fox Sports 1 will provide one hour of qualifying coverage Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern, with three hours of live finals coverage starting at 3 p.m. Eastern Sunday.