Consider Austin Prock the Justin Ashley of the 2024 Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Last season, Ashley won six of the specialty challenge events and claimed the overall title. Just eleven races into 2024, Prock has already won five. 

His latest, at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, came at the expense of Ron Capps. Prock went 3.993 seconds at 320.13 mph to secure the win.

“This team has been very, very consistent. It’s definitely been a fun race car to drive,” Prock said. “We were low in all four qualifying sessions this weekend and then ended up winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge as well, so another great start for the weekend.

“The biggest deal about the Challenge is those points that stay with you when the points reset, and they are huge. You see so many people win or lose a championship by one or five points and other people are accumulating them than them as well, but we’ve definitely been doing a good job of getting them.”

Oh yeah, that Ashley dude... is still winning. 

Ashley claimed his third Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win on Saturday in Seattle, taking down defending world champion Doug Kalitta in the final round with a run of 3.890, 315.49.

“This is really meaningful, especially this time of the year because we’re getting closer and closer to the Countdown,” Ashley said. “The way the points are, they get added after the [Countdown points] reset, so these points and qualifying bonus points are super important. Any time we can get a win in competition, whether it’s on race day or the Mission Foods Challenge, I think it’s really beneficial for us.

“I think we had a really good start to the year, but then there was a stretch recently over the last four or five races where we’ve been struggling. We had a good bounce back in Norwalk; then, we ended up qualifying No. 2 here. We’re working on some things, testing out some things, just adjusting the tune-up, so I’m pretty happy with where we’re at, and a win like this is good for the team.”

Aaron Stanfield, who has won back-to-back national events in Pro Stock, now has a Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory. He ran a 6.557 at 208.10 to beat a red-lighting Mason McGaha in the final round. 

“I really enjoy the #2fast2Tasty Challenge. We won the championship (for the bonus race) last year, and to just now get our first one, it’s taken us a minute, but it’s a blast, and it’s good to have some continued success,” Stanfield said. “We’ve had a really good race car and I’ve been driving decent, so hopefully we can continue to build on race day.”

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gaige Herrera, who has won everything but a state lottery, picked up his third victory of the season in the specialty event. He stopped rival Matt Smith with a 6.745 at 200.32. Smith fouled, ending the race early.

“It was a little hot today for sure, so we were battling the track a little bit, but we made a few changes to the transmission to accommodate the heat, and it paid off in the in the final against Matt Smith,” Herrera said. “Unfortunately, he went red, or it probably would have been a really good race.