Austin Prock arrived at the 40th annual Texas NHRA Fall Nationals this weekend outside of Dallas this weekend with a slim 20-point lead over Matt Hagan in the points standings.
Prock, the reigning world champion, and his John Force Racing team needed to have a clutch performance – and they did.
Prock clocked a 3.959-second elapsed time at 328.30 in the finals to defeat Ron Capps, who came across the finish line in 4.405, 199.80.
“Friday night, I said we’re going to be counting wins. And we went out there and won. And all our cards fell right today on Sunday, and we were able to extend our points lead. So that definitely feels really good,” Prock said. “I’m really proud of this team. We stumbled Q1 when the track was a little green, and they regrouped. And the track continuously got better throughout the weekend and so did our race car. We were low E.T. every time we went down the track after Q1, and that’s an O.G. Jim Prock [Austin’s dad and crew chief] move right there. You go and you just take it all.
“So really proud to drive this race car for Cornwell Tools. It’s one hell of an opportunity. And to turn on win lights and bring home race wins is it feels good. And then you extend the points lead on top of it. You can’t ask for much more.”
Prock earned his sixth No. 1 qualifying spot of the 2025 season from Friday night’s run of 3.876 seconds at 336.07 mph. The Jimmy Prock/Thomas Prock/Nate Hildahl-led team backed up that run with Saturday’s runs in the heat of 3.998, 326.44 mph and 3.934, 330.18.
That set the stage for Sunday in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car, when he disposed of Blake Alexander, Spencer Hyde, and Chad Green before Capps.
“That’s cool. It’s crazy how long this place has been here, and the surface is still in great condition,” Prock said about winning the 40th annual event at the Texas Motorplex. “They did such a good job engineering this racetrack when they built it back in the ’80s. All concrete. And we don’t go to a place that’s like this. So, to come here, I’m sorry for the fans, if you’re a big fan of low E.T., it shouldn’t be 95 [degrees] here in October but that’s what Mother Nature threw us this year. But still put on good racing. And when you win in the heat, it’s a struggle. You bust your tails. The guys bust their tails. It’s hot out. You’re sweating. You’re tired. You have no time to eat on Sunday. It always tastes a little bit better on these long hot days. We’ll be wearing our cowboy hats proud tonight.”
A parachute malfunction early in the run acted like an anchor for Capps, though, preventing him from giving Prock a side-by-side race.
“It was strange in the final. Prock poked his nose out there, but the car felt like it was running well. We came into this weekend wanting to make up ground in the points and we had to, and that’s exactly what we did,” Capps said. “So proud of our NAPA Toyota team, and let’s see if we can keep this momentum going into Las Vegas.”
Prock, meanwhile, went from being 20 points ahead of Hagan to 112-point advantage over his closest pursuer after Sunday.
“Yeah, it was a really cool weekend. I get gassed up when the thing rips like it does,” Prock said. “Just I’m so proud of this team and my dad and brother and Nate Hildahl. They do just such a good job. And we weren’t just low E.T., we were low E.T. by a lot, a lot of those sessions, which definitely makes you feel good; gives you some confidence behind the wheel. And to put it all together and put a cowboy hat on at the end of the day feels damn good.”
Hagan, who won NHRA world championships in 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2023, was upset in the first round by Paul Lee on Sunday.
“For my first win at Dallas and sweep the weekend, take all the cash – no better way to do it, right?” Prock said. “Our mindset is the same. We got to go out there, and like I said, the most wins in these next three races are going to crown the world champion, I feel like. And we knocked one off, so we’ve got two more to go.
“And our race car typically runs really good in Las Vegas. My dad makes a lot of horsepower and knows how to tune in a lot of different conditions. So, I got all the faith in the world in this team and this race car, and I’m going to go up there and try and do my job.”
There are only two races left in the season – Las Vegas, Oct. 30-Nov. 2, and Pomona, Calif., Nov. 13-16.
“It’s going to be kind of weird going to Vegas and not have it be four wide. I keep thinking that the Vegas race is four wide just because they threw us for a loop earlier in the Countdown,” Prock said. “And I’m looking forward to it. I love going to Las Vegas. It’s a long week there with SEMA and everything, but always a good time there. And last year, we locked up the championship there, so hopefully we can go turn on four more win lights and have a good qualifying effort there and extend our points even more.”
Prock captured his 21st career Wally – 17th in Funny Car, and four in Top Fuel. This also was Prock’s ninth win of the season, including sweeping the all three four-wide races this season. Prock improved his elimination-round record for the season to 42-9. He has been to 11 final rounds in 18 races. Prock has won 17 of the last 38 national events on the NHRA circuit.
This season, Prock has wins at: the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals on 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; Norwalk, Ohio, on June 29; Sonoma, Calif., on July 27; Brainerd, Minn. (Aug. 17); Indy (Sept. 1); Charlotte (Sept. 21), and Dallas (Oct. 12).
“We’re a good package right now and everybody’s just got to have each other’s back. And when it’s your day, it’s your day,” Prock said. “We had eight wins last year. We already got nine. We got two races to go. So, it’s just the effort that these guys have put into it, and they really can science this race car out. When it starts acting up, they know exactly what to feed it, how to treat it, and it’ll turn around and then we come into … you get four shots added in qualifying and by Sunday they typically got a good hold on it.”
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