Drag Illustrated Issue 129, January / February 2018 | Page 87

THE
CHAMPIONS
ISSUE
nhrA F unny C Ar
Robert Hight
R
obert Hight’s reunion with
Jimmy Prock produced two of the
biggest highlights of the 2017
Funny Car season. Hight went a
blistering 339.87 mph at Sono-
ma, following the fastest pass
of all time with the quickest when he became
the first Funny Car to reach the 3.70s – 3.793
– in Brainerd.
But the pairing of the two close friends for a
second time was about much more than singular
highlights. Hight and Prock struck gold in the
second half of the season, winning four events
to claim the Funny Car championship.
“I felt like I won the lottery when I got (Prock)
back,” says Hight, who won his second Funny
Car title. “Jimmy and I are very close and I feel
like he is the best out there. There are a lot more
wins to come and we just have to keep it together.”
Prock returned to John Force Racing after a
two-year spell with rival Don Schumacher Racing,
and started calling the shots on Hight’s Cama-
ro at the Gatornationals. It took time to find a
winning combination – 13 races, in fact – but
Hight was deadly during the second half of the
year following his victory at Denver. He won two
races during the Countdown to the Champion-
ship, slipping past Ron Capps, who just missed
a second straight world title.
“The way my Funny Car ran from Denver until
the end of the season gave me so much confidence
as a driver,” Hight asserts “When you have the
confidence that you just have to do your job you
can win a lot of races because it makes it so much
easier. For a while I was down on myself the last
couple of years. I don’t blame the car. I blame
myself. I am realistic and think, ‘Am I part of
the problem?’ You start getting down on yourself
and losing confidence. It is tough, so when we
got that first win and started turning it around,
my driving got better. My lights got better. I was
having a lot of fun. We were all having fun doing
it as a team.”
It’s nearly the same team it was when Hight
won his first championship in 2009, but he said
this title is more satisfying, helped in part by JFR
teammate Brittany Force also winning the Top
Fuel championship. But dueling with rival Capps
during the Countdown to the Championship can’t
be discounted, either, and seemed to bring out
the best in both drivers, with Hight advancing
further in Pomona to win the title.
“The rivalry was fun,” Hight says. “Capps is a
great racer