(Photo Credit: Gary Nastase, Auto Imagery)
POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 08, 2023) – Robert Hight and the Automobile Club of Southern California / Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS team are just 17 points out of the lead for their fourth Camping World NHRA Funny Car Championship as they head into this weekend’s In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
Coming off a weekend in which the Auto Club team claimed the maximum available points on the way to winning the NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hight sits third in the points standings as he attempts to join John Force, Don Prudhomme, and Kenny Bernstein as the only Funny Car drivers with at least four series championships. En route to his fourth win of the season, Hight and the Auto Club team had a track record-setting first-round time of 3.816 seconds, the quickest in the Funny Car division in six years and the ninth quickest in history.
“This is amazing and exactly what NHRA wants is for the championship to come down to the last race of the year the NHRA Finals, and for it to go clear down to the final round. That’s a very real possibility of going to the final round and having to win the race to win the championship. There’s no more excitement than that,” Hight said. “It’s points and a half in Pomona, but if it wasn’t points and a half, I think it would be more exciting this year because of how close we are. The way these three cars run, I don’t think anybody can gain a round with points and a half if we run to our potential. No one is running away with this deal. I’m just glad to be a part of it, and it’s going to be exciting. Probably a lot of sleepless nights between now and Sunday.”
Hight has won six times at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip but only once in the Finals in 2007. He has advanced to the final round three times in 2011, 2017 and 2019. Last year, after qualifying fourth, he had a quarterfinal exit, falling short of the championship title by three points.
Competition at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip begins with four qualifying runs Friday and Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m. Eliminations will begin Sunday at 11 a.m. Television coverage of the event will air Sunday on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with a qualifying show at 2 p.m. ET and eliminations at 4 p.m. ET.
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