DID YOU KNOW:

Robert was the clutch tech on John Force’s Funny Car when it was dominating the series in the 1990s.

Although he had no previous competitive experience as a driver, Robert won in just his fourth start for JFR in 2005 (at Houston, Texas).

He was one round win away from three more championships, losing the 2007 title by 19 points, the 2022 championship by three points and the 2023 title by 12.

He won a race, qualified No. 1 and led the points in each of his first 10 seasons and is the only driver in any category to win the championship from a No. 10 start (2009).

He was promoted to his current position as President of JFR in January of 2011

FOR THE RECORD:

2019, 2017, 2009 NHRA Funny Car World Champion

Current NHRA national record holder for elapsed time at 3.793 seconds

2005 Auto Club Road to the Future Award winner (NHRA Rookie of the Year)

HIGHT OF PERFECTION

On the advice of doctors, Robert Hight this year is spending a second season outside the cockpit of the John Force Racing Funny Car in which he was the first to break the 3.80 second barrier in the NHRA’s Mission Foods Series.

That doesn’t mean the three-time World Champion and future Hall of Famer no longer is contributing to the success of one of auto racing’s last true dynasties, however.

In fact, since turning over the reins of the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to Austin Prock a year ago, the 55-year-old native Californian has taken on even more responsibilities as President of JFR, a position to which he ascended in 2011.

His work in that capacity, especially following the 300 mile-an-hour crash last June that left the team’s founder and namesake reeling from the effects of a Traumatic Brain Injury, kept the JFR juggernaut operating at an extremely high level resulting, at season’s end, in its first 1-2 points finish since 2009.

Now, as Force continues to rehab, Hight is helping chart a course forward with Prock, “Fast Jack” Beckman and Brittany Force as the team’s current drivers while also mentoring daughter, Autumn.

Although he grew up far from any major racing venue, Hight developed an early interest in mechanics while working with his father in his hometown of Alturas, Calif.  By the time he was 16, he already had restored a Plymouth Belvedere, a car that would serve as transportation to college in Sacramento where he earned degrees in business and accounting while working part-time at Tognotti’s Speed Shop.

Upon graduation, and to the consternation of his parents, he began looking for career opportunities in drag racing.  After starting as a Top Fuel dragster mechanic for Roger Primm Racing and driver Del Worsham, he fumbled his first opportunity with JFR because of opposition from his family and his then girlfriend.

Fortunately, he got a second chance when he took over as clutch technician on Force’s car midway through the 1995 season.  He celebrated in the winners’ circle his first week on the job and ultimately shared eight championships with his friend and mentor.

Although he always nurtured the dream of driving a race car, he never believed the opportunity would present itself, a perception that changed in 2004 when Force put another crewman, the late Eric Medlen, in the car vacated by Tony Pedregon.  Medlen’s success encouraged Force to give Hight an equal chance.

After serving as JFR’s first full-time test driver in 2004, Hight he got his shot the following year when he was tapped to drive for crew chief Jimmy Prock.  He responded with a win in just his fourth start, a fifth place points finish and recognition as the pro tour’s Rookie-of-the-Year.  

That success compelled him to give up his “other” career as a world class marksman.  When he quit shooting competitively, he was one of only a handful to have achieved the Grand Slam of marksmanship – 200 consecutive targets at the standard 16-yard distance, 100 at the maximum handicap distance (27 yards) and 100 doubles (two targets at once). 

Although he hasn’t been in a car for two years, he remains third in career Funny Car victories behind only Force and Ron Capps and his 622 round wins also place him among the sport’s elite.  Of his three championships, the first (2009) was notable because of his starting position (10th place) and the second (2017) because it represented the only time that JFR drivers have swept honors in the sport’s two premier categories.