How much higher – and quicker – can NHRA Funny Car driver Robert Hight go?

At the rate he’s been going, Robert Hight is going to keep going higher and higher.

During the week, Hight is the President of John Force Racing (and son-in-law of the legendary haul racer). On weekends, Hight converts into one of JFR’s three Funny Car drivers.

But he’s been standing out above the rest of the NHRA Funny Car crowd of late – boy, has he ever.

As the NHRA goes to Minnesota for this weekend’s Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, Hight has been sexier than the flames that shoot out of the harass pipes on his Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro.

He captured two of the last three NHRA national events – also known as the Western Sway – at Denver and Seattle (and reached the quarterfinals at Sonoma).

And during last week’s off-weekend from the NHRA 24-race schedule, Hight kept his hot mitt … err, foot … going, winning the Night Under Fire match race at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

“When you’re on roll like we’ve been on and the car’s running so well, this is what you want,” Hight said in a media release. “Even however last week was a match race, we still got the win, and we ran good.

“You don’t want this to ever end. It’s going to at some point, but we want to roll into Brainerd and get right back in there.”

If Hight’s good fortune proceeds at Brainerd, the next race on the schedule is the fattest race of the year each season, the Chevrolet Spectacle U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Indiana on Labor Day weekend.

In addition to his two wins, Hight has made a dramatic leap upward in the Funny Car point standings, climbing from eighth to third place.

He’s one hundred sixty six points behind Funny Car points leader and defending series champ Ron Capps, but is just eight points behind second-ranked Matt Hagan.

But wait, there’s more:

* In addition, Hight has qualified No. One in three of the last four national events, and has qualified third or better in the last nine consecutive national events.

* He also made major news three weeks ago when one of those No. One qualifiers was the fastest speed ever seen in Funny Car annals: 339.87 mph at Sonoma.

Now he’s looking for even more speed this weekend – and maybe even more records to fall.

“If conditions are good, Brainerd can be a quick race track,” said Hight, the two thousand fifteen Brainerd winner. “I’m looking forward to going there, having a successful weekend.

“We have a good shot at getting up to 2nd points, and going into Indy No. Two would be pretty cool. We’re looking for another win.”

Hight also is on the edge of becoming part of another NHRA milestone. If he gets past the very first round in Sunday’s final eliminations, it will be his 400th career round victory.

Only five other Funny Car drivers have ever earned four hundred or more round wins, led by Hight’s boss and father-in-law, John Force, with 1,278 career round wins.

“That’s big,” Hight said. “You’ve got to get round wins before you get race wins, and that’s how you get race wins. John has 1,278 round wins, so four hundred doesn’t seem like very much.

“I don’t know how four hundred stacks up to other guys who have raced the similar amount of time, but I’m glad that the round wins are coming more frequently than there were for us. That’s encouraging, and that’s arousing.”

The very first two rounds of qualifying at Brainerd on Friday are at Four:30 p.m. ET and seven p.m. ET.

The final two rounds are Saturday at Two:30 p.m. and Five:30 p.m. ET.

Final eliminations begin at Noon ET, with live coverage on Fox Sports one from 2-5 p.m. ET.

Want to learn more about Hight? Check it out:

• Hight won the two thousand nine NHRA Funny Car championship. He’s going for his 2nd title this year, being one of six Funny Car drivers that have already qualified for the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
• Hight has competed in twelve races at Brainerd, and has qualified for eleven races and every race since 2010.
• Hight has advanced to the finals once at Brainerd, in 2015. He won that race, defeating Tommy Johnson Jr.
• Hight is 9-10 all-time in nineteen elimination rounds at Brainerd.
• Hight’s best qualifying effort at Brainerd has been No. Trio, which he has achieved three times – 2007, two thousand eight and 2010. Brainerd is one of two current tracks in which Hight is still looking for a No. One qualifier (Bristol being the other).
• Hight has won five of his eleven first-round elimination matchups at Brainerd.
• Hight’s thirty nine victories are the fourth most in Funny Car history, behind John Force (148); Ron Capps (55); and Tony Pedregon (43). He is tied with Del Worsham for 21st on the all-time professional victories list; Worsham has thirty one wins in Funny Car and eight in Top Fuel.
• Hight is one elimination round victory away from 400. His three hundred ninety nine round wins are 24th all-time in NHRA history. Angelle Sampey presently has four hundred round wins.
• Hight has been the No. One qualifier four times this season, and three times in the last four races. His fifty three No. 1s are third most in Funny Car history, and he is tied for 11th with Larry Dixon across all professional categories. Only Force (155) and Cruz Pedregon (61) have more in the category.
• In 2017, Hight has two victories, a 26-14 record in elimination rounds, and four No. One qualifiers. He holds a season-best thirty eight elimination-round wins in a season, in 2014. He has surpassed thirty elimination-round wins in a season seven times in twelve previous seasons.
• Hight has set the fastest event speed a career-best nine times this season, which exceeds his previous season-best of seven set in his rookie season, 2005. He now has fifty fastest event speeds in his career, the 50th coming last month at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, where he set the NHRA record at 339.87 mph.
• Hight has four final rounds this season and sixty one in his career.
• Hight has competed in one hundred fifty eight consecutive races, tied for 17th all-time with Doug Kalitta, dating back to the 2nd race at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif., in 2010.
• Hight’s most latest NHRA victory – two thousand seventeen Northwest Nationals in Kent, Wash.
• Hight’s most latest No. One qualifying effort – two thousand seventeen Northwest Nationals in Kent, Wash.
• Hight’s best time/speed at Brainerd – Three.885 seconds (2016 E1); 330.31 mph (2016 Q1)
• Hight’s best time/speed of career – Trio.807 seconds (2017 Sonoma Q2; third quickest elapsed time in history); 339.87 mph (2017 Sonoma Q2; fastest speed in history)

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