Austin Prock turned a miserable start to the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge season into a championship Saturday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
The back-to-back Funny Car champion defeated J.R. Todd in the final round of the specialty race at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, securing his third Challenge victory of the season and the overall 2026 title.
Leah Pruett won the Top Fuel Challenge, rookie Cody Anderson scored his first Pro Stock victory of any kind, and Gaige Herrera won in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Herrera also wrapped up the season’s Challenge championship for the bikes.
Prock drove his Ford Racing Mustang to a 3.921-second pass at 317.87 mph to beat Todd’s 4.006, 325.06. The victory also gave Prock 16 bonus points for the Countdown to the Championship.
Those points didn’t look likely earlier in the season. Prock went through the first six Challenge races without winning a round before his team reversed course after Chicago, eventually reaching five finals since May.
“We went the first six races without winning a single round, and then after Chicago, we made it to our first semifinal round, and I think we’ve been almost we’ve been in every Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge except one,” Prock said. “It just shows how far this team’s come. Those are the kind of stats that’ll win you a third championship in a row.”
There was another encouraging piece for Prock. His Mustang wasn’t running on all eight cylinders during Saturday’s two Challenge runs and was still among the quickest Funny Cars on the property.
“Both runs that we’ve made were full pulls that had a few cylinders out, and the E.T. board still shows we’re second quick, we’re third quick,” Prock said. “We’re making impressive runs on six cylinders in this Ford Mustang. There’s a lot of racing to go, and I guarantee you this Ford Mustang will be dialed in on Monday.”
Prock has won the last two U.S. Nationals and can become the first Funny Car driver to win the event three consecutive years.
In Top Fuel, Pruett didn’t like what she saw when she hit the throttle against points leader Doug Kalitta. She liked the win light considerably more.
Pruett defeated Kalitta with a 3.873 at 319.98 in her Dodge dragster to claim her first #2Fast2Tasty victory of the season. Kalitta had dominated the season-long bonus haul with 22 Countdown points, but Pruett took the final Saturday trophy available before the playoffs.
“I barely even hit the light, I was like, ‘That sucked!’ and I am not happy at all,” Pruett said. “I’m just waiting for Doug to just scream on by at 340 miles an hour and he didn’t. That car saved that round. I saved our first round against Maddi, and, yeah, it all comes back to unity and team.”
Pruett has won at Indianapolis before, but not the U.S. Nationals Top Fuel title. Saturday gave her another shot of momentum before Monday’s eliminations and the coming Countdown.
“To get a win like that at Indy with the crowd, with the changing variables, the history, the pageantry, everything about it is fulfilling,” Pruett said. “I’m embracing it because all this is emotional warfare in preparation for the biggest, baddest ‘Big Go’ that there could ever be. That’s where I’m at.”
Cody Anderson didn’t need to wait until Monday for his first taste of winning in Pro Stock.
The rookie cut a .020-second reaction time and ran 6.642 at 204.91 in his Troy Humphrey Motorsports/Daiken/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro to defeat veteran Greg Stanfield in the final. Two win lights gave Anderson his first victory in Pro Stock competition.
“It’s super special, and any win feels good,” Anderson said. “This place is extra special and iconic since it’s Indy. This win gives me a lot of confidence. It’s hard to win one round, especially on race day, and just to get two win lights is a huge confidence boost – and to be able to leave on Greg Stanfield is a big deal. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going for race day.”
There was a family twist to the outcome. Cody’s father, six-time champion Greg Anderson, had already clinched the season #2Fast2Tasty championship, but lost in Saturday’s opening round.
“It’s pretty damn cool,” Greg Anderson said. “I felt so bad when I crossed the finish line in the first round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty round and got my butt whipped. Cody held up his end of the bargain. I’m so very, very proud of the boy. It’s pretty cool to see, and for it to happen at Indy means more since I’ve said all my career [that] I love this place more than anywhere else.”
Herrera and Richard Gadson finished Saturday with the kind of starting-line duel that has become familiar between the Vance & Hines teammates.
Gadson left 2/1,000ths of a second too soon, handing Herrera the Pro Stock Motorcycle victory on a red-light. Herrera wasn’t waiting around for help, however, as his 6.842 at 196.50 aboard the RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki also moved him into the No. 1 qualifying position.
The victory clinched the overall #2Fast2Tasty championship for Herrera and kept him pointed toward an even bigger piece of Indianapolis history. Herrera is chasing his third consecutive U.S. Nationals victory, something only Dave Schultz has accomplished in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
“This was kind of how I saw it playing out that one of us was going to possibly go red,” Herrera said. “I mean, that’s how it’s been with us. I feel like we’re both going to lay it all out there. I won’t lie. I went up there and squeezed my [clutch] lever a little extra tighter than normal to make sure I wasn’t the one to go red. We go out there to cut each other’s head off, and it’s live or die by the sword.”
Herrera walked away with the Saturday trophy, the season championship, and another reason to like the #2Fast2Tasty format.
“I’m also very happy to get this Mission #2Fast2Tasty overall win,” Herrera said. “This is a great deal and it makes it a lot more fun to race on Saturdays.”
