Bob Tasca III promised Ford that if it returned to NHRA drag racing, he would deliver them a Funny Car championship.
If he is to keep his promise, he will have to do it as a team owner only.
And he will have to yield the driving glory once again to two-time and current Funny Car champion Austin Prock.
As part of a glitzy globally streamed Ford Performance online presentation late Thursday that featured actor Dax Shepard as host, Tasca announced he is stepping away from his driving duties and paring back to a singular role of team owner only.
Prock and his decorated crew chief father Jimmy Prock made official in late November that they were leaving Chevrolet-affiliated John Force Racing. This new alignment will debut in March with the NHRA’s 2026 season-opening Gatornationals at Florida’s Gainesville Raceway.
Mark Rushbrook, Ford Racing’s global director, actually revealed the Tasca Racing move on stage as the camera cut to Tasca and Prock in the crowd, with Prock flashing one of his NHRA championship rings and a grinning Tasca pointing proudly to his new hire.
Tasca said in a prepared statement, “I’m thrilled to welcome the Prock family under the Tasca Racing umbrella. I’ve had a front-row seat throughout my career watching the success Jimmy Prock has achieved, and he’s only continued to elevate his program with the addition of his sons.
“People will naturally ask how this all came together,” he said, “and the answer is simple: the long-term vision of the Prock family and the Tasca family aligned perfectly. With the combined resources of Tasca Racing, Ford Racing, and the Prock family, we know this partnership will be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come.”
In a video from the presentation site that was posted on his social-media site, Tasca indicated Prock might be the only person to whom he would relinquish his cockpit and said it was a thrill “not just to have Austin but Jimmy and (Austin’s brothers) Thomas and Sam – the whole team. I can tell you right now this Funny Car is going to be a force to be reckoned with this season.”
With that, the video showed Austin Prock applying decals with his name and the No. 1 designation on the PPG Nitro Mustang Dark Horse Funny Car.
Prock expressed excitement for “the opportunity to race with Ford Racing and the Tasca family.” In the prepared text, Prock is quoted as saying, “I am honored to join Tasca Racing. Our family shares the same passion and work ethic for success in motorsports. Like Tasca, our family’s legacy in the racing industry runs for many decades. We are ready for the challenge of building a championship-level team under the Tasca Racing banner. The work has already begun – 2026 is going to be exciting.”
The news pairs the only two drivers to exceed the 340-mph barrier in Funny Car competition.
Tasca had to concede to Prock the distinction of being the first to break the 340-mph barrier. In 2024, Tasca clocked a 341.68-mph speed at the PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton, Fla., but the event wasn’t an officially sanctioned NHRA race. Prock received credit for the feat later that year, in November at the Finals at Pomona, Calif., when he ran an identical 341.68-mph elapsed time.
Tasca’s 10th-place finish in the final standings last season snapped a six-year streak of top-five finishes. He leaves the driver’s seat with 18 victories in 34 final-round appearances in 338 starts. His career record is above .500 at 327-314.
Prock’s record is 168-88 in 109 races that include Top Fuel action. He is the 20th person in NHRA history to win in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. And in 2024, he set the class record for most No. 1 qualifying positions in a single season at 15.
The late-Thursday press release promises that “additional details regarding the 2026 Tasca Racing Nitro Funny Car program will be announced in the coming months.”
