While Hight, like the rest of Force’s observers, enjoys the uniqueness of his boss’ character, he also knows to be on alert.
Hight said being around Force is “never dull. Never, ever dull. You don’t know what you’re going to get any day. There’s always excitement. It seems like even if things are going smooth, he wants to change things up. John does not like the same old thing every day. He always wants to be growing, feel like he’s moving forward. So a lot of unexpected things come up. It usually works out. He’s got a forward way of thinking.”
Force’s unique style doesn’t always amuse drag-racing pioneer Kenny Bernstein, who too often had to follow Force on stage at awards ceremonies and assorted functions. Hight, who makes joint appearances with Force dozens of times every year, says he feels Bernstein’s pain.
“Yes. Yes, I do,” Hight said. “Sometimes when you go on a stage with John, that’s probably the toughest thing, following him. He is funny and so good at everything. That’s not my style. I’m more analytical and try to explain what the cars do and how we’re doing as a team.”
But people love hearing Force spin his yarns. Part of that is Force’s desire to make everyone happy all the time. Hight believes he knows that’s not humanly possible.
“I know it’s not possible,” Hight said. “John doesn’t know it’s not. He still works at it every day and exhausts himself, wears himself out, trying to make everybody happy. But that’s a good quality. He’s that kind of person you want to be around. He cares.”
Hight wore out Todd last fall in their race for the Funny Car title before Todd claimed his first championship.
“That battle we had last year, that’s the hardest thing I’ve been through in my racing career. After he (Hight) crashed and then had surgery for a broken collarbone and came back and won, that proves how much of a badass he is. I have the most respect for him,” Todd said. “That’s when I knew it was going to be a battle all the way down to Pomona (at the NHRA Finals), because he definitely was not giving up.”
Hight said, “I just remember a couple of things, not getting to celebrate a win in St. Louis (Gateway). That was a bummer. And I remember laying there thinking, collarbone, and they said eight weeks. I’m thinking, ‘I have the points lead, and these opportunities don’t just come around.’
“I got back to California and saw the doctor at USC,” Hight added. “He said you need to fix this and you will be back in a couple of weeks. I did everything like he said and went back to him (Oct. 4) and he gave me clearance. I built an apparatus to keep the belts off my collarbone. He told me I wouldn’t have got clearance if I didn’t have something like that.”
Hight had all the right stuff and Todd had a major problem.
“I was pretty stressed,” Todd said. “Once we saw him smoke the tires first round (during the season finale in November), that was instant relief for me, 10,000 pounds lifted off my shoulders.”
With three victories in the first five races this season and No. 1 qualifying starts in the first three, Hight said back in the spring he was astounded: “It’s hard to even dream this big.”
Maybe it is — but he’s going to keep doing it.