The NHRA concluded its regular season with a performance-filled week, culminating in four first-time professional winners at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. 

Austin Prock ended his remarkable rookie Funny Car season by winning from the No. 1 qualifying position and stopping the winning streak of two-time NHRA champion Ron Capps in the final round. 

Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 14th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. 

Prock, subbing for Robert Hight in 2024, drove 3.885 seconds at 327.98 miles per hour, beating Capps's 3.935. The victory marks the fifth of the season for Prock, who enters the Countdown to the Championship as the top seed.

“We got our first U.S. Nationals win, super proud of the team. It was a great effort all weekend long,” Prock said. “Everyone talks about Indy. It’s the biggest race of the year, and it is. But all weekend long, I treated it even less than a race; I kind of treated it as a test session and just tried to stay focused and race my own lane. That was good enough to get the job done this weekend. I’m very proud of the team. It still hasn’t hit me that we won the U.S. Nationals.

“So many people dream of winning this race, and very few have. I’m very proud to add my name to that list with my dad (crew chief Jimmy), my brother Thomas turning the knobs with Nate Hildahl. It’s a pretty surreal moment. To cap off the regular season the way we did is very comforting. I don’t see us slowing down any time soon. People say when you’re hot, you’re hot, and right now, we’re hot and have been all year long.”

Prock defeated Chris King, Alexis DeJoria, and Blake Alexander to reach the finals. 

Capps, who just missed out on becoming the first Funny Car driver to win the U.S. Nationals three straight years, advanced to his 150th career final round and third this season on the strength of victories against J.R. Todd, Buddy Hull, and Jack Beckman. He moved to fifth in points, while Prock opens the Countdown to the Championship in the points lead.

Millican defeated four-time world champion Steve Torrence in the final round with a run of 3.792 at 327.82 in his Arby’s/Parts Plus dragster. Qualifying for Millican was far from easy for the Drummonds, Tenn., drag racer who ended up in the No. 13 spot, but rebounded in the first round with a 3.695 at 333.74 to defeat Antron Brown in the first round.

Millican then beat Josh Hart and Brittany Force to reach the final round. 
Not only was the win Millican’s first at Indy, but also his first of the season. 

“I’ve definitely been the underdog my entire life. I promise you that, but I have a lot of fight in me,” Millican said. “Nothing will ever top [my first win in] Bristol, including the U.S. Nationals, but this is like winning the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, the World Series. This is career-defining stuff.

“To win with [team owner] Rick Ware here was cool. I won three times last year and he wasn’t at any of them. He came on Friday, he has two NASCAR teams racing in Darlington, but he was here. It was cool to call him last year and say we won, but there is nothing like being here.”

Stanfield made history by becoming the first driver in NHRA history to win two events in one weekend at the U.S. Nationals, following up his victory in Holley EFI Factory X on Monday with a win in Pro Stock, knocking off teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the final round with a pass of 6.561 at 209.36 to score his fourth Pro Stock victory of 2024.

To reach the championship round, Stanfield knocked off Matt Hartford, Cory Reed and No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson. He enters the Countdown to the Championship second in points. 

“I’ve been close [to doubling] a couple of times, so I’m okay with the past races not to get it done, because this is the place to do it,” Stanfield said. “There’s so much history at this racetrack, and it’s special to me to not only win Indy Pro Stock and Factory X both in the same day and put my name down on the history books.

“Indy’s always a busy week for me. It’s a roller coaster of emotions the whole entire time, and I knew I had two good hot rods, and I knew I had a good chance to win, but this race has kicked my butt in the past, and it just feels great.” 

Winning the U.S. Nationals was one of the few accolades Herrera didn’t earn last season. He made sure it didn’t happen again by posting a perfect .000 reaction time and then going 6.763 at 198.70 to defeat Angie Smith. After not winning the past two races, Herrera, the dominant points leader, captured the biggest victory of the year – his seventh of the 2024 campaign.

To advance to the final round, Herrera, who qualified No. 1, dipped into the 6.70s in three rounds, including a weekend-best 6.722 at 199.35 in the opening round. He followed with a 6.755 against Chase Van Sant and then knocked off teammate Richard Gadson.

“This race is very special for me. Two years ago, I made my debut here. Two years ago, Andrew Hines had COVID sitting on his couch and didn’t even know my name until I made my first pass here,” Herrera said. “This one is very special. For me to be able to get this win, I feel like this was the biggest monkey of all on my back. Last year, I had the simplest part fail, which cost me going past second round. To get the win here, even though I won the championship last year, I feel like this almost surpasses that. 

“This ranks at the top, all the stuff that I’ve done as far as creating history or beating Bob Glidden’s record – throughout my years, I’m probably going to remember this over all of that. This is one everyone wants to win. It’s the Super Bowl of drag racing. To get this win, I feel like I’ve kind of accomplished what I wanted in Pro Stock Motorcycle. It’s crazy to say that a year and a half into my Pro Stock Motorcycle career, but I’m not stopping yet.”

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series returns to action Sept. 12-15 with the 39th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. It is the first of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.