Funny Car points leader Austin Prock is supposed to be a rookie, and winning the Mission 2Fast2Tasty is supposed to be a difficult challenge. However, the so-called rookie is making both driving a Funny Car and winning the specialty event look effortless. 

On Saturday at Sonoma Raceway at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Prock won his fifth consecutive race in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, stopping Blake Alexander in the final round.

Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Troy Coughlin Jr. (Pro Stock) also won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the 12th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.

Friday qualifying was a much more complex challenge for Prock. In both runs, he failed to make it to the finish line under pair, effectively ending the day at No. 16 provisionally. 

Prock and his John Force Racing team turned it around on Saturday, capped off by a run of 3.897 seconds elaped time at 332.10 mph in the final round of the bonus race against Alexander. He’s won the #2Fast2Tasty six times, giving him an extra 20 points in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

“We definitely struggled yesterday, but we turned it around today,” said Prock, who went 3.872 at 335.07 earlier in the day. “Six wins, that’s 20 points, which is a whole round, and as we’ve seen, every point matters.
 
“We backed off on Q3, but that was a nice run (in the finals). That’s the run we wanted. I know I’m happy, and I hope [my crew] is also happy. Winning these bonus races is a big confidence booster. It’s more money for our crew and more points for the team. Both are important.”

In the Top fuel portion, Kalitta Motorsports scored a win-win scenario in the final round, as Langdon squared off against teammate and No. 1 qualifier Doug Kalitta. 

The final round wasn’t a show of beauty. Langdon went 4.660, 160.94 and stopped Kalitta’s 7.028 at 113.52, as both cars ran into trouble. Kalitta suffered tire smoke almost immediately, and Langdon coasted to the win.

“This is the first win this season for me in this bonus race, and it’s nice to get it out of the way, and to race Doug in the final is even more special,” Langdon said. “We’ve got two Kalitta dragsters that are competitive and in the final we made a good run. In Seattle last week, we didn’t qualify where we wanted to, so it was nice to come here and make some nice runs to get some confidence for Sunday. Every little point matters and it’s nice for our crew to win these deals. It’s a nice reward for all they do.”

Speaking of a win-win, Troy Coughlin Jr. enjoyed his first Mission #2Fast2Tasty win of the year, defeating his uncle and teammate, Jeg Coughlin Jr., on a holeshot with a run of 6.529 at 211.63 in his JEGS.com/White Castle car. It’s the first bonus race win of the year for the younger Coughlin, and the difference was his .024 reaction time, which proved to be enough to beat Jeg’s run of 6.522 at 211.26. It was an enjoyable moment for Troy to race – and then beat – the five-time world champ, who also won last weekend in Seattle.

“This was tons of fun. It’s fantastic facing uncle Jeg especially at this majestic facility in front of these awesome fans,” Coughlin said. “Our team has worked their tails off to make these cars competitive. We’ve struggled a bit on race day, but it’s coming together. 
 
“I didn’t think that [.024 reaction time] would be enough but it was, this time. I’ve thought about racing with [Jeg] for about 28 years. It doesn’t matter if it’s a local race or a big bracket race or NHRA Pro Stock. It is great to race against him. To do this is a dream fulfilled.”