NHRA Funny Car champ Robert Hight quiets his critics.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Robert Hight knows that some people say he got a free pass to the NHRA playoffs this season. He also knows that some people say he got a free pass to the driver's seat a few years ago.
Talk is cheap. Getting the job done when it counts is what matters
In that regard, Hight passed everyone by in 2009. After coming close for four seasons, Hight won the Funny Car championship this season and proved a point.
"We won this thing on pure performance once the Countdown [the NHRA playoff] started," Hight said. "I think that shut up a lot of critics."
Hight won the title in a family battle at the end, edging Ashley Force Hood (his sister-in-law and teammate at John Force Racing) by 66 points.
NHRA
Robert Hight edged teammate and sister-in-law Ashley Force Hood by 66 points to win the 2009 Funny Car crown.
No one was prouder than NHRA legend John Force, Hight's father-in-law and team owner. Force and Hight were at Homestead-Miami Speedway last weekend for the NASCAR season finale.
"Robert delivered to put us back on the map," Force said. "I took a chance on a guy and he proved me right. He's the real deal."
Hight proved that fact long before he won the championship this season. He has finished in the top five every year since his rookie season in 2005, including runner-up to the title in 2006 and 2007.
But this year he had a little more to prove after making the Countdown under controversy. In the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend, Hight needed to win a matchup with Force to qualify for the playoffs.
Force spun the tires at the start and didn't make it down the track. Then the fireworks started. Funny Car drivers Tony and Cruz Pedregon cried foul, saying Force took a dive.
"Force cheats," Cruz Pedregon told ESPN after the race. "He manipulates the outcome of these races."
Tony Pedregon and Force screamed at each other afterward and almost came to blows. Pedregon drove for Force for eight years and won a championship for the team in 2003.
"I think that we understand one another," Pedregon said two days later. "It's time for us to move on. I think we are both bigger and better than to dwell on anything that happened."
The end result was Force getting all four of his cars into the 10-driver playoff.
"At the end of the day, I have a job to do," Force said. "I have a little business sense. And I have sponsors that I have to deliver for. We got the championship and that's what I'm paid to do.
"But I drove the hell out of my race car at Indy. That's all I can tell you."
The postrace incident with Pedregon took away from Ashley Force's big moment that day in winning the event and beating Tony in the process.
"Life's too short,'' Force said. "I ain't gonna hate anybody. I might not have great love for a few people, but everybody's their own person."
Including Hight, who had to hear people say he got a free pass to the Countdown.
"It was a big distraction," Hight said. "If decisions were made that day, I don't know about them. I was focused on driving my car the best I could."
Hight had heard it all before as the son-in-law who got a ride with one of the best teams in the NHRA. But Hight paid his dues, working as a clutch specialist on the owner's car for seven championship seasons.
“
I didn't know if Robert could drive a race car. But I knew what type of person he is and I knew he had the passion to win. I knew he had the will to win and he would figure it out. He came out of the box swinging.
”
-- John Force
"Even so, I didn't want to be the son-in-law who screwed it up," Hight said. "All that made me work harder. Jimmy Prock [Hight's crew chief] never said it, but I always wondered if he was thinking deep down, 'How come I get stuck with this rookie, slash, son-in-law.'
"I didn't want to be a waste of his talents. I wanted to accelerate the learning curve. Being on the other side working on these cars, I knew the work that goes into it."
Hight was a contender from the start, winning twice in his rookie season.
"I didn't know if Robert could drive a race car," Force said. "But I knew what type of person he is and I knew he had the passion to win. I knew he had the will to win and he would figure it out. He came out of the box swinging."
After finishing as the championship runner-up to Force in 2006, Hight fell only 19 points short of the title in 2007 when Tony Pedregon took the crown in the final event.
"I had gone down to the last day of the season thinking I was going to be the champion," Hight said. "I was totally confident I was going to win it. I was so excited. Then it didn't happen."
Back in August, Hight didn't think it would happen this season. He didn't even think his team would make the Countdown.
"Two races before Indy, we were hopeless,'' Hight said. "With the NHRA testing restrictions, we stuck with a lot of things too long."
The good news was he had a teammate in position to help him.
"Ashley was the class of the field," Hight said. "She had the best car out there, and that kept our team up. Jimmy adopted their engine combination and we owe [the championship] to them.
"That's what made it so tough. Had they not fixed us, she'd be here now and not me. No doubt about it. I never thought we could have it fixed that well that soon."
Hight fixed it well enough to win the championship, proving his father-in-law made the right decision when he put him in the driver's seat.
"The day Adria [Force's oldest daughter] and I got married, John gave a speech," Hight said. "He said, 'If I can trust Robert to strap me in this race car and him prepare it to go 300 miles per hour, I can trust him with my daughter.' That was pretty cool."
Force also trusted Hight to race a Funny Car and become a champion.
"I really want to thank John," Hight said. "He took a gamble on me. I'll never be able to repay him for what he's done for me, other than work as hard as I can for this team. I owe him a lot."
Source: NHRA Funny Car champ Robert Hight quiets his critics.
Talk is cheap. Getting the job done when it counts is what matters
In that regard, Hight passed everyone by in 2009. After coming close for four seasons, Hight won the Funny Car championship this season and proved a point.
"We won this thing on pure performance once the Countdown [the NHRA playoff] started," Hight said. "I think that shut up a lot of critics."
Hight won the title in a family battle at the end, edging Ashley Force Hood (his sister-in-law and teammate at John Force Racing) by 66 points.
NHRA
Robert Hight edged teammate and sister-in-law Ashley Force Hood by 66 points to win the 2009 Funny Car crown.
No one was prouder than NHRA legend John Force, Hight's father-in-law and team owner. Force and Hight were at Homestead-Miami Speedway last weekend for the NASCAR season finale.
"Robert delivered to put us back on the map," Force said. "I took a chance on a guy and he proved me right. He's the real deal."
Hight proved that fact long before he won the championship this season. He has finished in the top five every year since his rookie season in 2005, including runner-up to the title in 2006 and 2007.
But this year he had a little more to prove after making the Countdown under controversy. In the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend, Hight needed to win a matchup with Force to qualify for the playoffs.
Force spun the tires at the start and didn't make it down the track. Then the fireworks started. Funny Car drivers Tony and Cruz Pedregon cried foul, saying Force took a dive.
"Force cheats," Cruz Pedregon told ESPN after the race. "He manipulates the outcome of these races."
Tony Pedregon and Force screamed at each other afterward and almost came to blows. Pedregon drove for Force for eight years and won a championship for the team in 2003.
"I think that we understand one another," Pedregon said two days later. "It's time for us to move on. I think we are both bigger and better than to dwell on anything that happened."
The end result was Force getting all four of his cars into the 10-driver playoff.
"At the end of the day, I have a job to do," Force said. "I have a little business sense. And I have sponsors that I have to deliver for. We got the championship and that's what I'm paid to do.
"But I drove the hell out of my race car at Indy. That's all I can tell you."
The postrace incident with Pedregon took away from Ashley Force's big moment that day in winning the event and beating Tony in the process.
"Life's too short,'' Force said. "I ain't gonna hate anybody. I might not have great love for a few people, but everybody's their own person."
Including Hight, who had to hear people say he got a free pass to the Countdown.
"It was a big distraction," Hight said. "If decisions were made that day, I don't know about them. I was focused on driving my car the best I could."
Hight had heard it all before as the son-in-law who got a ride with one of the best teams in the NHRA. But Hight paid his dues, working as a clutch specialist on the owner's car for seven championship seasons.
“
I didn't know if Robert could drive a race car. But I knew what type of person he is and I knew he had the passion to win. I knew he had the will to win and he would figure it out. He came out of the box swinging.
”
-- John Force
"Even so, I didn't want to be the son-in-law who screwed it up," Hight said. "All that made me work harder. Jimmy Prock [Hight's crew chief] never said it, but I always wondered if he was thinking deep down, 'How come I get stuck with this rookie, slash, son-in-law.'
"I didn't want to be a waste of his talents. I wanted to accelerate the learning curve. Being on the other side working on these cars, I knew the work that goes into it."
Hight was a contender from the start, winning twice in his rookie season.
"I didn't know if Robert could drive a race car," Force said. "But I knew what type of person he is and I knew he had the passion to win. I knew he had the will to win and he would figure it out. He came out of the box swinging."
After finishing as the championship runner-up to Force in 2006, Hight fell only 19 points short of the title in 2007 when Tony Pedregon took the crown in the final event.
"I had gone down to the last day of the season thinking I was going to be the champion," Hight said. "I was totally confident I was going to win it. I was so excited. Then it didn't happen."
Back in August, Hight didn't think it would happen this season. He didn't even think his team would make the Countdown.
"Two races before Indy, we were hopeless,'' Hight said. "With the NHRA testing restrictions, we stuck with a lot of things too long."
The good news was he had a teammate in position to help him.
"Ashley was the class of the field," Hight said. "She had the best car out there, and that kept our team up. Jimmy adopted their engine combination and we owe [the championship] to them.
"That's what made it so tough. Had they not fixed us, she'd be here now and not me. No doubt about it. I never thought we could have it fixed that well that soon."
Hight fixed it well enough to win the championship, proving his father-in-law made the right decision when he put him in the driver's seat.
"The day Adria [Force's oldest daughter] and I got married, John gave a speech," Hight said. "He said, 'If I can trust Robert to strap me in this race car and him prepare it to go 300 miles per hour, I can trust him with my daughter.' That was pretty cool."
Force also trusted Hight to race a Funny Car and become a champion.
"I really want to thank John," Hight said. "He took a gamble on me. I'll never be able to repay him for what he's done for me, other than work as hard as I can for this team. I owe him a lot."
Source: NHRA Funny Car champ Robert Hight quiets his critics.
