LAS VEGAS (October 27, 2022) – Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS team have the Funny Car points lead heading into the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but they’ll need a strong showing at the second-to-last event of the season to give them a boost in confidence as the title chase reaches the finish line.
Hight has won a total of five times at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, two of those wins coming in the fall of 2009, when he won his first championship and 2015. Just last year, Hight qualified his Auto Club Chevy Camaro SS fifth and advanced to the semifinals before losing to Ron Capps, his closest pursuer for the 2022 championship.
“We knew this championship hunt was going to come down to the end. We still have the lead but this Auto Club team needs to keep up their hard work, keep their focus and go and get every point we can,” Hight said. “We don’t need to change anything, we just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing, it’s what got us here, now is not the time to switch things up. I have all the confidence in this Auto Club Chevy team. Jimmy Prock, Chris Cunningham and every crew member, they are truly the best group of guys I could have in my corner. We’re looking forward to getting to Vegas and putting on a good show. This competition really is exciting.”
Hight has won eight times this season, a career best, but his lead over Ron Capps in second is only 10 points. Hight has history on his side as he continues his bid to become just the fourth driver in NHRA Funny Car history (after John Force, Kenny Bernstein and Don Prudhomme) to win as many as four series championships. He already is one of only three Funny Car drivers to have won as many as eight races in a single season and his 14 career Countdown races are the most in the Funny Car division and fourth most overall. Hight and Auto Club will look to add to those numbers this weekend.
Competition at the NHRA Nevada Nationals, the second to last event on the NRHA Camping World Drag Racing Series season, begins with qualifying Friday at 1:00 and 4:15 p.m. and Saturday at 12:30 and 4:00 p.m. Eliminations are slated to begin Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Television coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) on Sunday beginning with qualifying at 2:00 p.m. ET and eliminations at 4 p.m. ET
