Robert Hight Steps Down as John Force Racing President
Three-time NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion Robert Hight is stepping away from his duties as president of John Force Racing (JFR). After a year out of the cockpit but still working to advance the needs of JFR, which currently competes in Top Fuel with Brittany Force and in Funny Car with John Force’s substitute driver Jack Beckman and reigning champion – himself a substitute for Hight – Austin Prock, Hight has decided the company is stable enough for him to begin devoting time to other things in this world.
While those of us invested in racing for years or decades realize that leaving is tough, so does Hight, who has spent the last 30 years working with JFR. The 55-year-old started as a crew member on John Force’s 1995 championship-winning car and segued to become facilities manager at JFR before becoming the team’s initial designated test driver in 2004. Hight took his first competitive drive in 2005 and earned a Wally winner’s Funny Car trophy in only his fourth start!
During his driving career, Hight worked primarily with crew chief Jimmy Prock, winning 65 times as he secured championships in 2009, 2017 and 2019. In his final, 2023 season driving before being sidelined by medical issues last year, Hight was runner-up to [now] four-time titleholder Matt Hagan. When he stepped out of the cockpit and handed the seat to Austin Prock, Hight knew he was giving the younger driver a car that could win. And win is what Prock did, with father Jimmy and brother Thomas co-crew chiefs. He accumulated 15 No. 1 qualifiers and eight victories, along with setting the first official lap speed over 340mph in the season finale at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip last November.
Hight knew the time was right. The team is in good hands with Force, Beckman and Prock in the staging lanes and with an enviable brain trust. “I had 30 great years at JFR,” Hight proclaimed. “But being out of the car last year made me realize there are others things I want to do, especially with my wife Leslie and my family. John opened so many doors for me and I”m just glad I was there to help him and the company through everything that happened last year.”
Last year – 2024 – was one of extreme highs and lows for John Force and John Force Racing. Sixteen-time champion Force earned his 157th victory and was in second place behind Prock when, during the Virginia NHRA Nationals outside Richmond, he had a truly bad crash, one that might have ended his career and his life. Force sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), along with broken bones, but the polio survivor did what he does best: survive.
Hight looked at the NHRA rules for substitution as Force began his recuperation, and realized that the team needed to do something to assuage its partners on the Force Camaro SS. He hired Beckman to drive the final eight races of the year on Force’s behalf and was rewarded with a win and with a return to second place in the standings by season’s close. That, together with Prock’s championship, likely helped Hight make his decision to hang up his helmet. Maybe not forever, but for now.
“Family is everything,” John Force said about Hight’s decision to step aside, “So as much as I’ll miss Robert, I understand that he has some other things he wants to do. He was a big part of the success of John Force Racing for more than 25 years. I love him and wish him well in whatever he decides to do. Down the line, we’ll name a new president, but right now we’ve got a great team in place and I’m looking forward to working closer with everyone.”
JFR has new partnership agreements in place with PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant, Cornwell Tools and HendrickCars.com that should carry the team through the next few years. And Force is back at the tracks with his team, which should definitely aid in his recuperation from last year’s near-deadly accident. Working with the brain trust of Jimmy and Thomas Prock, Nate Hildahl on Prock’s Funny Car, Force’s son-in-law Daniel Hood, Chris Cunningham and Tim Fabrisi on Beckman’s flopper and Brittany Force’s David Grubnic and John Collins, “They run the race cars, but they also work with Sam Fabiano at Force American Made, our company in Brownsburg, IN that makes all our parts, everything from chassis to engine blocks to cylinder heads to superchargers. That’s why we stay on top,” Force reminded.
“With Robert leaving, Bob McAleer will be my go-to guy,” John Force said of his Brownsburg-based director of business oeprations. “He already works closely with our partners; now he’ll be working with me a lot more and with the brain trust, to keep this machine firing on all cylinders.”
John Force Racing – and the balance of the Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock NHRA teams – have another week before the second race of the 20-contest season, the 40th annual Arizona NHRA Nationals which, it was announced today, will feature a post-qualifying Saturday concert by Alice Cooper, on the Wild Horse Pass Festival Grounds located next door to Firebird Motorsports Park.