To prepare for this weekend’s NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season finale, Robert Hight has thrown away his score sheet.
No counting points. No analyzing hypothetical scenarios.
After the way Hight’s title run ended last season, the John Force Racing driver is doubtful — and even a little jaded — that it would do the team any good.
“You look what happened last year. We came in there and we were looking at all the points scenarios and everything, and Cruz Pedregon comes out of nowhere and screws everything up,” Hight said. “All the points, everything was screwed up because of him.”
In an absolute upset of a performance, Pedregon won his first national event in more than a year at the finals, defeating Jason Rupert, John Force, Alexis DeJoria and eventual champion Ron Capps to reach the winner’s circle.
Meanwhile, Hight lost to Bob Tasca III in the quarterfinals, crushing his title hopes.
This time around, as the JFR haulers make the trek to the In-N-Out Burger Drag Strip in Pomona, Calif., Hight is not counting anyone out.
“We’ve really got to watch the guys we could be racing first round,” Hight said. “And it’s usually about beating yourself, so that’s all we can do right now.”
The 54-year-old is third in the standings, 17 points behind leader Matt Hagan and two points behind Bob Tasca III, who is ranked second. According to Hight, it’s anybody’s game, come Sunday’s eliminations.
However, the three-time Funny Car champion earned his fourth victory of the season two weeks ago at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, giving him the upper hand in momentum heading into Pomona.
On top of that, the series is visiting the Southern California native’s home track, lending him another homefield advantage.
But the 19-year Funny Car veteran isn’t sure he believes in that sort of luck.
“Every day is different. Some days are better than others, and all we can hope for is that we’ve got three good days left in us,” Hight said. “I’ve had great success in Pomona, and I’ve also fallen on my face. You can’t really look at history, or even back to Las Vegas.”
Hight doesn’t discount that his triumph in Las Vegas was a step in the right direction for the JFR crew, but at the same time, he views the Pomona drag strip as a “completely different animal.”
It’s not so much about lane choice — Hight says a car can win from either lane — as it is about the calls a crew chief makes.
“They have to give you a really good race car to go down either lane, no matter what the conditions are, and we just have to hope we don’t screw it up and that’s a fact,” Hight said.
The final detail for Hight to remember is the Pomona points structure, which awards point-and-a-half for every round. Though the points setup was originally engineered to tighten up the racing, Hight believes this year, it’s having the opposite effect.
“Because of how close we are, I don’t think anybody can gain a round with points-and-a-half if we all run to our potential,” Hight said. “If it was regular points, now Matt (Hagan) could gain another round on us. If he got it to 21 points, that’s two rounds. But that isn’t going to happen with points-and-a-half.
“I think sometimes the system needs to be a little bit revamped, because all these classes out here are so close. It’s going to come down to the last day no matter what. No one’s running away with this deal.”