ROBERT HIGHT LOOKING FOR POSITIVE FIREWORKS AT NORWALK THIS WEEKEND
NORWALK, OH – Robert Hight’s 2013 season has started off slowly but in recent weeks his Auto Club Ford Mustang has shown the signs 
of explosive power that fans have come to expect from one of the most dominant Funny Cars of the past decade. Since 2005 Hight and his Auto Club Ford Mustang have posted the most wins, 27, of any Funny Car team over that period. Ron Capps is second with 25 wins since 2005. Entering the 7th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, Hight will be looking for his first win of the 2013 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. His last win was April of 2012 at the Four-Wide NHRA Nationals.
“This is the longest I have gone without a win but I think I have a car that can win we just haven’t put a perfect weekend together yet. With as competitive as the Funny Car class is now that is what you need a near perfect weekend. We made two 4.05 runs in qualifying and another 4.05 in the first round. Then we ran 4.09 in the second round last weekend but didn’t get a Wally,” said Hight, No. 10 in the Mello Yello Funny Car points.
“There is a battle going on to stay in the Top Ten and we want to go some rounds and move off the bump spot. You look at what John Force has done in the last three weeks. Three finals with a win and he has moved up from 9th to 3rd place in the Mello Yello points. I think we could easily get on a run like that and we plan to start in Norwalk this weekend. We have a lot of experience at this track from the previous national events and the Night Under Fire match race,” said Hight.
Hight’s history at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park has been dominant in qualifying but less than fulfilling in eliminations. Last year was his worst qualifying effort when he went into race day as the No. 16 qualifier but No. 1 qualifier Johnny Gray had a mechanical issue on his burn out and his chutes deployed giving Hight the free pass to the second round. Hight fell to Tim Wilkerson in the 2nd round and for the third year in a row Hight was done in the quarter-finals.
In the previous five years of the NHRA national event in Norwalk Hight has qualified No. 11, No.1, No.2, No. 4 and No. 1. His two best finishes were 2008 when he lost to Tony Pedregon in the final and the in 2010 when he lost to Force in the semi-finals. In 2009 Force dispatched him in the second round and in 2011 it was two-time Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon ending Hight’s day in round two. He was ousted in the first round of the inaugural event.
“I love racing at Norwalk. The Bader’s are great and we have a lot of experience here. There will be a ton of fans and I just need to be at the top of my game. You get asked a lot about pressure and who you are racing but for me every run has pressure. Not bad pressure but you just have to be at your best no matter when you are running. Qualifying has never been more important to you have to focus there and with the Funny Cars as close performance wise you can’t be late on Sunday morning with your reaction time or your day will be very shot,” said Hight.
Hight has one final round appearance to his credit in 2013 when he lost to Johnny Gray in the final at the Topeka NHRA national event. He is hoping to make his second final round appearance this weekend in Norwalk and drive away with the Wally trophy.
“There is one guaranteed spot open for the Traxxas Shootout but more importantly you want to stay in the Top Ten. Our focus hasn’t changed. We want to come out on Friday in that first session and put up a good number and then go from there. We will definitely be aggressive since that plays to (Crew chief) Jimmy’s (Prock) strength,” said Hight.
