Austin Prock’s dominating regular season in NHRA’s nitro Funny Car class didn’t translate into the Countdown to the Championship – at least, not initially.
Prock, who races out of the famed John Force Racing stable, lost in the second round in Reading, Pennsylvania, last weekend.
Well, Prock didn’t let a slump happen as he returned to his winning ways at the 17th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals Sunday at zMAX Dragway outside Charlotte.
Prock, the reigning NHRA champion, clocked a 3.912-second elapsed time at 332.43 mph to defeat the other drivers in the final quad – Matt Hagan (3.952 seconds), Daniel Wilkerson (4.389 seconds) and Chad Green, who had a redlight start.
“Absolutely, that was a big win, especially after everything that went on in the semifinals. A few of the frontrunners went out and we capitalized on it,” Prock said. “So, to get the win for the points was awesome. Extended our lead a little bit going into St. Louis next weekend. And it was just brought to my attention, I knew this, but I forgot, there’s only four left. It’s pretty wild how fast this 2025 season has gone. So, it was good to keep up our performance this weekend and extend our points lead and to get it done here in Charlotte for Hendrickcars.com is really special. Mr. H [Rick Hendrick] is pretty, pretty pumped right now.”
Prock captured his 20th career Wally – 16 in Funny Car, and four in Top Fuel. This also was Prock’s eighth win of the season, including a sweep of the three four-wide races this season.
“The Prock Rocket, it was on point all weekend. Our package just seems suited for [the late] Bruton Smith’s racetracks,” Prock said of Charlotte, Las Vegas and Bristol. “He [created] a great surface for us, and our race car runs well on it. I wasn’t my typical self on the starting line this weekend. I was good but not where I wanted to be, but the car ran good enough and our total package was good enough to win. So I’m really proud of that. Me and Dallas Glenn both swept all three four-wides this year and, for two young guns in the category, that’s pretty cool.”
This was Prock’s fifth victory in the last seven races, which included a three-race win streak at Sonoma, Brainerd, and Indy. It’s actually his fourth victory in the last five races since he also won at Norwalk.
Prock improved his elimination-round record for the season to 38-8. He has been to 10 final rounds in 16 races. Prock has won 16 of the last 36 NHRA national events.
This season, Prock has wins at: the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals April 13 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway on April 27; Richmond, Va., on June 22; Norwalk, Ohio, on June 29; Sonoma on July 27; Brainerd, Minn., Aug. 17; Indy, on Sept. 1; and Charlotte on Sunday.
“Yeah, this place has been good to me. Even in Top Fuel, I had success here. So, I think that was my last win in Top Fuel. I love coming here. It’s one thing how nice this facility is and you’re in one of the motorsports capitals of the world. To come here and do a good job for some circle track fans is always pretty special.”
Prock also battled illness during the weekend.
“I don’t feel sick at all now though,” Prock said in the post-race interview. “It’s always tough driving one of these race cars, but my saying to myself is always ‘no excuses.’ No matter what’s going on in your life, what’s going on in your day to day or with the race car, you still are paid to come out here and perform and execute and be the best to your ability. So even though I was a little bit under the weather this weekend and feeling slow, I still held myself to my normal standard.
“Like I said in an interview earlier today, I was good but I wasn’t great, and I want to push myself to be great all the time in all scenarios because I think that’s what creates a champion … being able to execute under the pressure, under rare circumstances, and just be able to push through it and still do your job.”
A year ago, was Prock’s 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 to earn the season title.
Up next for Prock is a quest for his second championship in the six-race Countdown to Championship is the third race, the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals, set for Sept. 26-28 outside St. Louis.
“John Force gave me a shot, and I want to perform for him and everything, all the stars have been aligned, and we’ve been able to do that,” Prock said. “I don’t really think about that thing. I don’t think about the accolades or how many. It was just brought to my attention, I have 20 wins now and that’s a pretty good feat – to get 20 NHRA wins with only a few seasons under your belt. I try not to keep track of it. … I have a few things I need to worry about, and those few things are very important to execute perfectly every time. I just try to stay in my lane and focus on myself.”
