The descent in elapsed time numbers in the NHRA Funny Car category over the last three seasons has been truly unparalleled in the modern era of nitro racing, plunging nearly a tenth and a half in the last 48 months with seemingly no end in sight (save for rumored header angle changes being instituted of 2018). And on Friday afternoon, Robert Hight quite literally took the eliminator to new heights.
Hight, the fastest man to ever traverse a 1,000- or 1,320-foot racing distance in a wheel-driven vehicle following his 339.87 mph blast in Sonoma, California, punched his way into the previously uncharted 3.7-second zone during the second round of qualifying on Friday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd, Minnesota, with a stunning and historic 3.793-second, 338.00 mph pass.
“It’s something you dream about,” Hight said. “There are so many things that have to happen, and so many people that have to work together for it to happen. It’s just not that easy. We’ve been on runs before that you think that, if it’d finished, it would have run in the .70s.”
“To be the first – that’s history. This is a big milestone. It’s going to be a long time before we get into the 3.60s. To be a part of a milestone – I’ve been on John’s teams when he’s cracked barriers, but never done it as a driver – so this is big for me and the whole team. We’re ecstatic.”
Hight’s lap was one half of the quickest side-by-side Funny Car race in history, as previous national record holder Matt Hagan clocked a staggering 3.807-second lap of his own in the other lane; the two runs made possible by a 74-degree afternoon in 3,272 feet of air.
“I could tell it was running fast,” Hight said. “The clutch disc was boiling, and that’s the way Jimmy runs it. That’s how he wants to wear the clutch. It was hard to see, but I did see the 3.79 on the scoreboard, because we shut off at 1,000 feet, I had the chutes out, and I glanced up there but I didn’t know the speed.”
As impressive as the final numbers were, equally stunning were the incrementals: .857 to 60-feet, 2.195 to 330-feet, and 3.073 at a blistering 294.31 mph to the eighth-mile.
Lead photo credit: Gary Nastase and Auto Imagery