Auto Club of Southern California driver Robert Hight
joins 338 mph club, races to Topeka semifinals
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 21) – Robert Hight and his Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car keep getting faster and faster.
Hight raised his career-best speed at the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals on Sunday at Heartland Park Topeka. But he fell short of the ultimate goal of winning the race after smoking the tires in the semifinals.
“We are going rounds, we are running so good,” Hight said. “Anything less than a final round, you feel like you failed. We are going rounds, (I’m) driving all right. This was kind of a different set of circumstances with the conditions we had this weekend, it was pretty amazing. We just gotta put four together.”
Hight has now been to the semifinals in three of the last four races, also advancing to the final round in Houston. But he’s looking for his first victory of the season and 38th of his career, even as crew chief Jimmy Prock and the Auto Club team get their Camaro quicker and quicker.
Hight made his career-best elapsed time during qualifying, 3.826 seconds at 337.66 mph, snaring the No. 3 qualifying spot. In the first round against Dale Creasy, Hight joined the 338 mph club, beating Creasy with a pass of 3.833 at a career-best 338.09 mph.
Hight then knocked off Bob Tasca III in the second round with a run of 3.895 at 332.43 mph, using a .055-second reaction time to beat Tasca’s .058 light and run of 3.910 at 325.22 mph.
That put Hight against Capps for the fourth race in a row and second in a row in the semifinals. Hight was again off the line first, a .055 light, but the Auto Club Chevy went into tire smoke. Capps cruised to the final round with a pass of 3.908 seconds at 323.97 mph, while Hight slowed to a 6.168-second run at 118.16 mph.
“Man, I was not expecting that,” Hight said. “Jimmy wasn’t expecting it obviously. What makes you mad is when you see what it takes to win. We’ve got to learn from that. We weren’t going up there trying to run .90. We’ve got to back it down and race better.
“We will. We’ve got a great team, and everybody is doing a great job – no mistakes. It’s going to turn, and when it does, I think its gonna go our way for a while.”
Force and the Advance Auto Parts Fuel team return to action June 2-4 for the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H. That’s the first of four races in four weekends for the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
4-Second Reads:
Best Qualifying Effort: 3.826 sec./337.66 mph (Round 1)
Elimination Round 1 (Left Lane): 3.833 sec./338.09 mph, def. No. 14 Dale Creasy Jr., 4.412 sec./212.16 mph; vs. Creasy – now 4-0 all-time; 1-0 this season; 2-0 at Topeka
Elimination Round 2 (Quarterfinals, Left Lane): 3.895 sec./332.43 mph, def. No. 11 Bob Tasca III, 3.910 sec./325.22 mph; vs. Tasca – now 16-6 all-time; 2-0 this season; 2-0 at Topeka
Elimination Round 3 (Semifinals, Left Lane): 6.168 sec./118.16 mph, lost to No. 7 Ron Capps, 3.908 sec./323.97 mph; vs. Capps – now 30-26 all-time; 0-3 this season; 3-3 at Topeka
Set three fastest speeds of career this weekend (338.09 in Eliminations – First Round)
Hight is now 11-8 this season in 19 elimination rounds.
Hight is now 22-11 at Heartland Park Topeka in 33 elimination rounds.
Hight is now 63-30 all-time in 93 elimination rounds from the No. 3 qualifying spot.
Funny Car Points Standings: 1. Ron Capps, 748; 2. Matt Hagan, 644; 3. John Force, 524; 4. Robert Hight, 518; 5. Jack Beckman, 502; 6. Courtney Force, 464.