Last year, first round ignition problems probably would have sidelined Robert Hight and company. This is not last year.

This year, Hight and the Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang crew proved their mettle as they bounced back from ignition problems to win the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway just outside of Denver, Co.

Victory was only a tad bittersweet, as Hight recorded his 18th career win, this  one over car owner and father-in-law John Force, tying him on the all-time list with Ed “the Ace” McCulloch and Mark Oswald. While Hight celebrated, Force flip flopped between satisfaction and disappointment.


Last year, first round ignition problems probably would have sidelined Robert Hight and company. This is not last year.

This year, Hight and the Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang crew proved their mettle as they bounced back from ignition problems to win the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway just outside of Denver, Co.

Victory was only a tad bittersweet, as Hight recorded his 18th career win, this  one over car owner and father-in-law John Force, tying him on the all-time list with Ed “the Ace” McCulloch and Mark Oswald. While Hight celebrated, Force flip flopped between satisfaction and disappointment.

“Bottom line,” Force explained, “he is my teammate (and) my son-in-law; the dad of my granddaughter. I ain’t mad at him; I just don’t like losing. I’m 61 and I am signed for five more years. I have a car that can run for the championship. Every point counts (because I know) I may not get that chance again.
            
“I have a car that is good now and it could go bad like it did the last three years. If anything, I am just an old sourpuss; a guy that just got spanked. I’ll get over it. We are celebrating. If (Robert) goes around me next week, I don’t care about that. I do, but that is part of the game. It is a Ford and it has Castrol and Auto club on it. At the end of the day, I just couldn’t believe I got beat, even in that lane.”

While Force stewed beneath the smiles, Hight literally glowed at how much his team accomplished on this particular day.

After sneaking past unheralded James Day with an unremarkable 4.319 second time in round one, Hight used his starting line skills to best Ron Capps despite a slower 1,000 foot performance in round two and then powered past Hagan and Force with back-to-back 4.21's.

While the win over Force was gratifying, especially since it was his first in three final round meetings with his boss and mentor, Hight was most pleased with a second round victory over Ron Capps.

“I don’t get a lot of (holeshots) because I shallow stage,” Hight said, referring to a technique that negatively effects reaction time. “We didn’t even know if we were going to make it back up (to the starting line). We had all kinds of ignition problems. That is actually why it slowed down on the first run. We didn’t find it until right at the end (of second round preparation). These guys behind me – Jimmy Prock, Eric Lane and my entire crew – they just pulled together. They never quit working on it and it paid off.”

Hight, a former Rookie-of-the-Year, won over Capps with a time of 4.251 seconds at 293.54 mph to Capps’ quicker and faster 4.235 at 296.11 mph in the NAPA Dodge now tuned by John Medlen.

Despite this being Hight's fourth win of the season, it's been a bit of a dry spell through the first two-thirds of the summer. Hight will now go into the final race prior to the Countdown the only driver capable of knocking Force from the top spot in the point standings. Force currently is 28 points ahead of Hight with the one race remaining.

The championship aside, Hight was just glad to be back making rounds and collecting the Wally.

”It's really good to get back on the winning side here at Denver.”