As the spotlight narrowed on the Top Fuel championship trio at the NHRA season finale this weekend, Austin Prock wasted no time in asserting his claim as the master of Pomona.

The defending race winner of the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, Prock has visited the final round at Pomona in three consecutive races. He got his bid for a fourth final round in two years off to a great start Saturday with the pole position at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

“I love it every time I come here,” Prock said. “As a kid growing up, ditching school and flying out here to come watch my dad race for championships and Wallys, it was always a treat to me. And I still feel the same way about this place. It has a special place in my heart and it just seems like we have a little mojo here.”

Prock raced his Montana Brand dragster past points leader Steve Torrence with a career-best 3.636-second pass at 332.92 mph to unseat Friday’s quickest driver. The effort handed Prock his second top qualifier award of the season and the third of his career. Torrence, meanwhile, was unable to improve on his earlier time and slipped to second with a 3.641, 335.65 mph.

“I didn’t even realize it was going that quick, and when I pulled the laundry the chutes hit so hard it pulled my breath deflector under my nose and yarded my head forward,” Prock said. “When I looked up and saw it did a .636 I was about ready to jump out of the car.”

Antron Brown slotted in behind Prock and Torrence in third with a 3.663 at 335.82. Championship hopefuls Mike Salinas (3.663), Doug Kalitta (3.666) and Leah Pruett (3.674) rounded out the top six.

As the NHRA enters its final day of the season, Torrence holds a full round lead over Kalitta and is two rounds up on Pruett. Both would need Torrence to lose early and keep going rounds to contend for their first titles.

On the other side of the aisle, Prock’s John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight remained in contention for a championship in the Funny Car class, giving JFR the No. 1 spot in both nitro categories. While not directly involved, Prock hopes that he can help, however possible, in getting his teammate a fourth championship.

“That is our main focus this weekend, to make sure he gets the championship,” Prock said. “We laid down some nice tracks for him tonight.”

Prock is also hoping to end the season on a high note for his own personal gratification after an up-and-down year. He has one win in two finals on the season, but feels this team is capable of so much more.

“Our focus every weekend is to go for a Wally and I feel like we finally have a racecar that can do it,” Prock said. “We’ve been picking at it slowly throughout the year and the last two or three races things really came around. [Today] we just lowered the boom a little bit and hopefully we can keep that up tomorrow.

“If you can win the last race, you get to enjoy it for a few months. It is the longest victory you get to hold on to. We love racing here in Pomona, we love winning here in Pomona, and hopefully we can do that again.”

Prock will draw Ron August in Round One on Sunday as he seeks that fourth straight Pomona final round. Torrence will race Spencer Hyde in the opening round, while championship hopefuls Torrence and Pruett will face Dan Mercier and Tony Schumacher, respectively.

More than anything, Prock is hoping he can end the year on a high note as he prepares to enter the offseason with the same crew chief combination for the first time in his career. Working with a revolving door of signal callers, Prock will enter 2024 with Chris Cunningham and Joe Barlam back in his corner, and he is excited about the stability that will bring to the team.

“This was a season of growth,” Prock said. “I got handed another set of crew chiefs this year. Every year I have gone into a season with new crew chiefs, and while I’ve got to work with some incredible people, it has never been for consecutive years. I’m really looking forward to finishing this year out strong and then going into next year with Chris and Joe and the notebook of data we have built this year. Hopefully we will be able to run like that from start to finish next year.”