The smile on Austin Prock’s face told the story before he answered a single question Saturday at Maryland International Raceway.
For two seasons, media center appearances had become routine. Win a race, win a Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, qualify No. 1, then walk into the interview room and explain how it happened.
Then the routine stopped.
Before this season, Prock had never gone more than four races in Funny Car without a win or No. 1 qualifier. By Saturday at the NHRA Potomac Nationals, that drought had stretched to eight races and an offseason.
“It feels great,” Prock said. “It’s been a hot minute. It’s been about, I think, eight races and an offseason. So it’s been a long time and feels good.”
The breakthrough came when Prock defeated four-time Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, earning his first major accomplishment since joining Tasca Racing and giving his team something it desperately needed heading into Sunday’s eliminations.
“You know, we’ve had a decent car all weekend and good enough to win the Mission Too Fast Too Tasty race today,” Prock said. “So got a lot of work to do still, but the race car is going up and down the racetrack and giving me opportunity to, get comfortable in this Ford and, practice chopping down the Christmas tree.
“So proud of what we’ve done so far. We’re going to be hard at it tonight and we’re going to have a fast Prock Rocket in the morning. I can guarantee that.”
Nobody expected Austin Prock to spend the first half of 2026 searching for answers.
Not after winning 18 Funny Car races over the previous two seasons. Not after establishing himself as one of the category’s dominant drivers. Not after leaving John Force Racing with championship credentials and joining a Tasca Racing organization determined to become a title contender.
Winning covers a lot of things in drag racing.
Losing exposes everything.
“The people on the internet, I try not to pay attention to. Their opinion really doesn’t matter to me. I’ve just been focused on myself working on myself. When you’re not winning, I feel like you have more time to pinpoint yourself on the things that you’re doing wrong. I’ve definitely been stressed out this season so far.
“I always want to be better, but when you’re not winning and you want to be better, it’s a little bit tougher on yourself. I learned a lot about myself again this year and I’m just going to keep putting in the work. I was happy with my performance driving today.”
The strange part wasn’t that Prock struggled.
Every championship-caliber driver eventually hits rough patches. The unusual part was watching it happen immediately after two seasons where winning had become almost expected.
For months, fans saw the scoreboards and the early exits. Inside the Tasca Racing camp, however, the focus remained on building something much larger than race-day results.
“There’s been a lot of work going into this Tasca Racing camp, and Bob’s been so supportive and so great to work with, you know, anything that we need or want. We’ve got it. Ford Racing’s been great to work with as well on the engineering side of things.
“So we got a lot going on in the behind the scenes, a lot of work going in off the racetrack and plenty of work going in on the racetrack. So the progress we’ve made is just impeccable. I love racing with my dad and my brother, Nate Hildahl, and my brother Sam and this whole PPG team this weekend. So really excited about today. Gained some valuable points, got a little cash in our pocket, a little bit of bling, and you know, we’re going to be happy going into Sunday morning.”
While fans measured progress by round wins, Prock measured it in smaller steps. The car was becoming more predictable. The team was finding consistency. The scoreboard was finally beginning to reflect the work being invested behind the scenes. But did it feel like so much more than eight races since his team had tasted victory?
“It’s hard to say, when you don’t win one weekend, it feels like an eternity,” Prock said.
“This year’s just been a blur. We’ve been putting in so many hours at the track, at the race shop. You really don’t have much time to think about whatever’s in front of you and what the next goal to attack is.
“We’ve been, you know, chopping away at it and it’s starting to show up, show some promise on the ET boards, which is gratifying.”
The victory won’t erase the Gainesville DNQ. It won’t erase the frustrations of the season’s opening months.
What it did provide was evidence that the direction remains correct.
Part of the challenge has been adapting to a race car that behaves differently than anything Prock drove during his championship run. What sounds simple from outside the cockpit becomes is far more complicated when everything a driver is used to changes.
“It’s totally different. This race car handles different. It’s a different chassis. The body is much different aero-wise. It drives different down track and the windshield is totally different.
“Getting accustomed to the view out of this Ford has definitely, it sounds like it would be so simple, but you’re so normalized with one view and then when that changes, you’re trying to find out what’s normal again and what the best way to approach that that view is.
“I feel like I’ve been getting better. I’ve showed peaks of great performance and I’ve showed a lot of bad driving this year too. So just working through it and I can guarantee you when it counts, I’m going to be on it.”
Maryland didn’t solve every problem inside the Tasca Racing camp. It didn’t guarantee a victory on Sunday, nor did it suddenly erase eight races of frustration.
What it did provide was proof that the work, the long hours and the growing pains are beginning to produce results.
Asked what he would tell the version of himself who left Gainesville frustrated after failing to qualify, Prock’s answer sounded like the mindset that carried him through the drought.
“Keep on keeping on. I mean, you know, there was no reason why I shouldn’t have been frustrated in Gainesville. We worked our asses off over the offseason and to go out there and run like we did, nobody was happy. We didn’t obviously want that.
“We go out there to win every weekend. So I mean, I think that wearing your heart on your sleeve, there’s nothing wrong with that when you’re a passionate racer like I am.”
