The highlight reel that has been Austin Prock in NHRA’s nitro Funny Car class this season kept rolling Friday.

Prock, who pilots the Cornwell Tools Camaro for John Force Racing, clocked the two quickest elapsed times in qualifying Friday at the Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by Peak Performance May in Joliet, Ill.

Prock’s quickest run came in Q2 and kept him on top of the qualifying ladder with a 3.907-second time at 332.43 mph.

If Prock’s time holds through Saturday’s final two qualify sessions, it would be his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season in six races. Prock also set the pace in Q1 with his 3.945-second time at 326.24 mph.

“It definitely makes you feel good,” Prock said after his team’s effort. “We were not happy with our performance over in Charlotte, losing in the first round (April 28 at the Four-Wide Nationals) and not racing smart. We did a lot of homework these past three weeks and it definitely paid off. We made two really nice runs and (Friday) we gathered up six more qualifying points to go toward that Pep Boys All Star race and I’m really proud about that.

“We made two beautiful runs. The car is handling really well, and I changed a lot of stuff on our time off on the steering components. I would have liked to test it before we drug it here, but we ended up getting rained out last Tuesday. I’m really happy with how everything went (Friday), and the guys are doing a great job.”

Prock arrived in Joliet atop the season points standings, 17 in front of J.R. Todd. Prock has one win this season in Phoenix and two runner-up finishes. He’s been the No. 1 qualifier in Gainesville, Fla., Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

Prock, who never raced a Funny Car full-time until this season, was thrust into this role when three-time world champion driver Robert Hight was sidelined by a medical condition.

“It sucks really,” Prock said about the delay between races. “The more seat time you get, the more comfortable you get. For sitting out, I wasn’t as nerved up (Friday). I’m definitely getting more comfortable in the car and I’m really happy about that. We are six races in, and I’m really starting to feel at home in this Cornwell Tools Chevrolet.”

From 2019-2023, Prock drove a Top Fuel dragster for John Force Racing and finished a career-best third in the points standings in 2022. He collected four national-event wins and three No. 1 qualifiers.

“I think I’m more comfortable" in a Funny Car, Prock said. “It feels like I’m one with this Funny Car. Even when we got to Bradenton (Fla.) earlier this year and I sat in it, I was really nervous and I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was oddly comfortable. I love sitting behind that engine and I love racing with my family, and I love racing at John Force Racing.”

Prock’s crew chiefs are his father, Jimmy, a world-championship tuner, and his brother Thomas.

“It’s fun,” Austin said about competing against the star drivers in the nitro Funny Car class. “We are out here for the competition. You saw that there was a few thou(sandths of a second) separating (Bob Tasca III) and I (Friday night). In qualifying every weekend, we are just nitpicking a thou here and a thou there, and that’s the difference between a win light or a No. 1 qualifier. I love the competition, and I love what I’m doing.”

There’s no question Prock has made things look easy this season, but he knows driving a volatile 11,000-horsepower machine is anything but easy.

“I just have to get the job done,” Prock said. “Everybody is in the same scenario out here and it is a tough race car for everybody to drive. Like I said earlier in the year, it might look like I’m making it look easy, but it is definitely a lot of hard work and a lot of focus and a lot of effort to be at the top of this class like this. But this race car is running outstanding as well and it is making me look good, and when the race car is going up and down the track efficiently like that it makes the learning curve a little bit easier. ... I don’t know if it is easier, but you have more attempts to learn when it is going up and down the racetrack and you’re going rounds.

“If anybody ever said one of these things wasn’t a beast, they are dumb.”