Hight’s Camaro Wins the 2017 NHRA Funny Car Championship

Robert Hight drove his Chevrolet Camaro to the 2017 NHRA Funny Car Championship in just the third year of the program.

John Force Racing made the switch from Ford Mustang funny cars to Chevrolet Camaro funny cars for the 2015 season. GM got back into the series when Ford pulled their factory backing of the NHRA legend. Force began his incredible career in General Motors products before switching to Ford in the 1990s, but when Ford announced that they were pulling their factory backing – John Force Racing made the leap to the Chevrolet Camaro for the 2015, helping GM get back into the big leagues of funny car racing.

In just the third season since Chevrolet rekindled their factory-backed funny car program, John Force Racing’s Robert Hight drove a Camaro SS funny car to the 2017 NHRA Championship.

The Championship Season

The 2017 racing season started rough kind of rough for the Chevrolet Camaro drivers from John Force Racing. Although John Force won the third race of the season, a Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger funny car won 12 of the first 13 events of the year. During that time, Robert Hight only made it to the finals one time, losing to Jack Beckman, but starting with the 14^th race of the season, the AAA Auto Club Camaro turned it all around.

Robert Hight won two of the final five races leading into the six-race shootout of the Countdown to the Championship. Although Capps had a massive lead during the first 18 races of the season, the Countdown portion evens the points out a bit, bringing Capps’ Charger within striking distance for the rest of the cars in the run for the title.

Hight and his Camaro won the first and fourth race in the Countdown while Capps and his Charger won the second and fourth events. Neither of them made it to the finals in the fifth race of the Countdown, but Hight made it to the semis while Capps lost early. With Capps having placed poorly in the other two Countdown races in which Hight won, the JFR Camaro held a narrow lead going into the final race of the season.

The Final Shot

At the Auto Club NHRA finals in Pomona, California, Robert Hight and his Auto Club Camaro only had to outlast Ron Capps and his Dodge Charger. When Capps lost to Del Worsham in the first round, Hight’s title was secured, but for good measures, he drove his Camaro all of the way to the final round, where he lost to DSR’s Tommy Johnson Jr.

This is the second funny car championship of Robert Hight’s career, having won his first back in 2009 when John Force Racing was still running Ford Mustangs.

For Chevrolet, this is the first NHRA funny car title of the modern program and for General Motors, this is the first funny car championship since John Force won in a Pontiac Firebird back in 1997 (he also won the title in 1993-1996 in a Pontiac).

The best years for General Motors’ factory-backed funny car program came with John Force in the 1980s and 1990s, so it is no surprise that Force is involved in the first title for the new Camaro funny car program – this time as the car owner. Also, in addition to winning the funny car title as a car owner with Robert Hight, John Force’s daughter Ashley Force took the NHRA Top Fuel championship as well, so John Force Racing took home two titles from Pomona this weekend.

Images: John Force Racing

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com