Austin Prock has won races in quarter midgets, sprint cars and Top Fuel dragsters, but he admits he never has had the laser focus he’s demonstrated since sliding behind the wheel of the AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car he’ll drive this week in the 28th NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway.
It is in that white-and-blue Camaro, tuned by his dad Jimmy, that the 29-year-old will pursue his fourth consecutive NHRA tour victory and eighth overall since taking the seat previously occupied by three-time former World Champ and JFR President Robert Hight, who is on medical leave.
Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery photo
The third generation drag racer, grandson of 1970s era Funny Car driver Tom Prock, will start the qualifying phase of this week’s third Countdown event 129 points ahead of everybody else, including John Force Racing teammate “Fast Jack” Beckman, who can testify to his racing partner’s newfound intensity.
“When Austin lost at Brainerd, (Minn., in the second round of the Lucas Oil Nationals), he didn’t like his light (a .116 reaction time that is his worst this season, by far),” Beckman said, “(so) he locked himself in his lounge and we just kept hearing the foot pedal going down, over and over, just practicing, practicing.
“I tapped on his door, and he let something out that started with an (expletive) and I said, ‘we’re not going to bother him now.’ And he went from that moment, where he didn’t like the way he performed, to winning three straight races. That’s just pure determination. Pretty damn impressive.”
“I’m just focusing on finishing strong and trying to give (the powers that be at JFR) a reason to keep me around,” Prock said. “We want to finish 1-2, me and Jack. That’s the goal, however it ends up. My dad, (brother) Tom and Nathan Hildahl, they’re the ones that are making it happen. I’m just trying not to screw it up.
“I’m trying to put the same kind of work in (as the crew) and just be a machine (and) it’s been working out so far,” he said, “but the only way we’re going to win this championship is if we’re perfect every time we drag it up there. If we do that, and everybody does their best, we’ll be up on that stage (at the November awards banquet).
“We’re working hard,” he said, “trying to get that 348-point lead back (the regular season advantage that evaporated when the NHRA adjusted the points for the Countdown).”
A former clutch tech at JFR, Prock is just one win shy of equaling the eight-win season Hight put together for the same team in 2022. He also has three runner-up finishes in 2024. He lost to Bob Tasca III by .009 of a second in the final round of the Las Vegas four-wide and to Force by .033 in the final of the New England Nationals at Epping, N.H.
The fact is, he’s putting up numbers that haven’t been seen since boss John Force’s heyday in the 1990s and early 2000s including 11 No. 1 starts, just two shy of the single season Funny Car record.
His 82.3 winning percentage (from a 42-9 record that doesn’t include his win in the pre-season PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton, Fla.) is the highest in a fuel class since Tony Schumacher set the record in 2008 when he won 89.4 percent of his races (76-9).
“We’ve got some good momentum going,” said the point leader, “but we’re just working one round at a time.”
This story was originally published on September 26, 2024.
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