At times, it appears that reigning NHRA Funny Car champion Austin Prock is unstoppable.
One of those times was this past weekend.
Prock, driving in the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS for John Force Racing, won for the fifth time this season when he captured the title at the Denso NHRA Sonoma (CA) Nationals on Sunday.
Prock clocked a 3.904-second elapsed time at 333.82 mph to edge Spencer Hyde’s 3.956-second lap at 323.35 mph. Prock snared his 17th career Wally – 13th in Funny Car, four in Top Fuel – and his first in Sonoma.
“Yeah, this was huge. The crowd here all weekend long was outstanding, and I never realized how many fans I had here in Sonoma County,” Prock said. “It was pretty awesome all weekend. … Eric Medlen, our late teammate, this was his last win [2006] before his accident. I got my first ever sponsorship to begin racing when I was 10 years old. It’s come full circle today.
“Eric was a mentor of mine, someone I looked up to. He took me under his wing as a young kid. And it’s one of the reasons I got the itch to be a race car driver. So, that was very sentimental and very special for me today.”
On Sunday in Sonoma, Prock, the No. 5 qualifier, defeated Cruz Pedregon, Paul Lee, and Matt Hagan before outrunning Hyde, a rookie in the Funny Car ranks.
“We’ve been struggling in qualifying. We struggled in Seattle last weekend and we had a lot of homework to do. My dad [Jimmy], [brother] Thomas, and Nate Hildahl went to work and struggled through qualifying because we were testing – we had four different setups that we were trying throughout the weekend. And finally, Q4, we came across something that showed a little potential, a little promise, and we ran with it today and really made some strides in the performance of this race car on these good track conditions that this racetrack provided us this weekend.”
Prock got things rolling in the first round when he clocked a 3.833-second elapsed time at 340.90 mph. It was the second time Prock topped 340 mph in his career, as he went a career-best 341.68 mph at the NHRA Finals last November.
“I don’t think there’s any bit of speed that would scare me. I love the adrenaline rush; it’s an addictive drug,” Prock said. “Driving one of these race cars, there is nothing like it in the entire world. And to be able to do it for a profession and live out my dream – this isn’t work for me, this is what I love to do, it’s my passion. I think about it every single day. I work at it every single day. When you get those speed records like that, it’s really cool. Not too long ago, the first-ever drag car went 300 to the quarter mile, 1,320 feet, and nowadays, we’re running 340 mph in 1,000 feet – 320 less feet. It says a lot about how much people have put into this sport, how much engineering has gone into it, and to be behind the wheel and get to enjoy that is really special.”
Prock was glad the speed of his Funny Car also translated into wins.
“Well, when you’re struggling like this, you have a lot more on your mind as a driver because last year our race car went up and down the track a lot,” Prock said. “I think it was like 80% of the runs were completed runs. So, you really only have to focus on just leaving the starting line essentially and then keeping it in the groove. You don’t have to have these thoughts of, ‘What if it spins here? What if it shakes here? What if it blows the tires off at 600 feet?’ It just eases everything. As a driver, you just have a little bit more confidence, a little more pep in your step. …
“It was just a good test for me today. I felt like I haven’t been driving quite as well as I did last year at this point, and I’ve been really working on that. It was a good test for me today to go up there, believe in the race car, do my job, and turn on four win lights.”
Prock improved his elimination-round record for the season to 25-7. He has been to seven final rounds in 12 races, and he leads the standings with 1,020 points. Matt Hagan (819), JFR teammate Jack Beckman (815), and Ron Capps (782) are second, third and fourth, respectively.
This season, Prock has wins at: the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals April 13 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, N.C., on April 27; Richmond, Va., on June 22, and Sonoma, Calif., on July 27.
“Every time we drag this race car up there, the conditions are different, and you have to adjust for those conditions. My job is difficult. The crew chief’s job, I don’t want any business with it – it is much more difficult; here’s a lot much more things that go into it. I believe in this team, and I go up there and I try and be a machine. As a race car driver, if you can go up there and do the exact same thing every single time, there’s so many variables on setting one of these race cars up for these conditions that if the driver does the exact same thing every single time, it’s one less variable for them to worry about.
“What we did today was very impressive, in my mind. Coming off a very [tough] weekend in Seattle last weekend, and then come in here – testing all four qualifying runs – and then go up there [today] and we were almost low ET every single run. That’s a testament to how much work these guys put in there.”
Prock also was glad he was on his game behind the wheel.
“I was just glad I didn’t screw it up today. We raced some big dogs today. That semifinal race with Matt Hagan – he is always tough. When you have that little bit of pep in your step, everybody performs a little better,” Prock said. “And getting around him and having an opportunity to win here today was a big deal. Spencer Hyde, that race car was the most dominant race car here all weekend. They did a phenomenal job. And to get past them to cap it off and have some wine at the end of the day was awesome.”
A year ago, was Prock in his first season driving a nitro Funny Car as a replacement for Robert Hight, who was sidelined for medical reasons. Prock won a class-best eight national events with his final win of the season coming at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas on Nov. 3, 2024.
Prock has won 13 of the last 32 national events, but he still has his doubters.
“It started at the beginning of the year. People would be like, ‘Where’s Prock at? He didn’t run low ET. He smoked the tires.’ And we have more wins right now than we did last year at this point. And it’s just like you get hit with those questions, weekend after weekend if we don’t win,” Prock said. “It’s like we’re performing at a higher level of wins than we did last year. And it’s like, ‘Are you guys paying attention?’ It doesn’t really bother me, but it’s like every weekend it’s consistent, and I was just kind of over it yesterday, to be honest.
“The race car’s running great. We’re trying new things. The competition has gotten closer, so we’re testing, we’re going down different avenues to try and keep our edge. And it’s not going to go down the racetrack every run. Our consistency rate isn’t quite there, but our wins are more than they were last year in this race. I just wanted to shut it up.”
With two races left in the regular season, Prock would also love to lock up that title crown at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, set for Aug. 14-17, in Brainerd, Minn and not have to worry about anything except winning at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, Aug. 27 through Sept. 1, in Indianapolis. The regular-season points title would also earn Prock a $150,000 bonus.
“It is always on your mind, specially, this year there is a regular-season champion and there is some cash on the line,” Prock said. “But you always want to go into the Countdown No. 1. The points do reset, but the biggest advantage you can have is if you go into the Countdown as No. 1. When you do that, you might be able to salvage a bad weekend that way. It’s definitely on our mind. It was good that we came into another race weekend. We extended our lead again, but it isn’t over. Once Indy’s over and we’re holding that trophy, then we’ll be. I’m proud of what we’re doing. Brainerd, last year we had a great race car and I messed it up, and hopefully I don’t do that again this year.”
