NHRA Champ Robert Hight Trades Racing Business for Gun Business
Three-time NHRA Funny Car champ and president of John Force Racing thanks John Force for '30 great years,' says being out of car has inspired new goals.
Force puts trust in business director Bob McAleer to keep status quo.
Hight exits NHRA with 65 victories, third-most in class.
Three-time Funny Car champion Robert Hight announced Thursday he has resigned as president of John Force Racing, a position he has anchored since 2011.
'Family is everything,' team owner John Force said in a prepared statement. '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 I 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. With Robert leaving, Bob McAleer will be my go-to guy.'
McAleer, based at the company's Brownsburg, Ind., headquarters, is JFR's Director of Business Operations. Force said, '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.'
Hight, 55, said, 'I had 30 great years at JFR. But being out of the car last year made me realize there are other 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.'
He was referring to the June 23, 2024, crash at Virginia Motorsports Park, near Richmond, that has sidelined the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion and 157-time winner with what was diagnosed as a traumatic brain injury. But Hight also was Force's lifeline and a stabilizing influence in late 2007, when Force suffered a devasting crash at Texas Motorplex, near Dallas, that followed the March 2007 passing of teammate Eric Medlen. Hight, who started his career as a crew member with Force's championship-winning Funny Car team in 1995.
Hight became the facilities manager at JFR before becoming the company's first designated test driver in 2004. He made his competitive driving debut in 2005, winning in just his fourth career start. He was runner-up to Matt Hagan in 2023, his final season.
Hight leaves the sport with 65 victories (third-best in the category) and championships in 2009, 2017, and 2019. He still owns the Funny Car class' national elapsed-time record at 3.793 seconds on the 1,000-foot course. And until his successor, current champion Austin Prock, officially broke the 340-mph barrier at 341.68, Hight had owned the sport's fastest speed—339.87 mph—since August 2017.
Earlier this week, a social media post on the Trap Shooters website, North Carolina businessman Tom Wilkinson said he has sold his Durham Gun Works to Hight. Another website indicated that Hight would move the business from Oxford, N.C., to the Provo-Orem area of Utah to Spanish Fork, Utah, where he has been living since announcing he was on medical leave from JFR.
'We just signed new deals with [sponsors], and I'm really excited about being back at the track with all of them, with our race teams,' Force said. 'Jimmy and Thomas Prock, Nate Hildahl, my son-in-law Daniel Hood, Chris Cunningham, Tim Fabrisi, David Grubnic,and John Collins. That's our brain trust,' Force said. 'They run the race cars, but they also work with Sam Fabiano at Force American Made, our company in Brownsburg (Ind.) that makes all our parts, everything from chassis to engine blocks to cylinder heads to superchargers. It's why we stay on top.'
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