The Prock rocket Funny Car keeps soaring to new heights.

Prock, who drives the Cornwell Tools/AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS for John Force Racing, won his fourth race of the season, claiming the title at the Northwest Nationals in Seattle on Sunday.

In the finals, Prock clocked a 3.875-second elapsed time at 334.57 mph to defeat first-time finalist Paul Lee, who smoked the tires and slowed to 5.335 seconds at 138.06 mph at Pacific Raceways.

“This is very exciting,” Prock said. “My dad [Jimmy, his crew chief], my brother [Thomas, assistant crew chief] and Nate [Hildahl, crew member] and this whole Cornwell Tools team do such a great job and giving me an opportunity to compete for wins every weekend. I’m really proud of that. We have been going a lot of rounds lately and all year long, really. I just hope we can keep it up the rest of the year. We are just past the halfway mark, and we are still picking away at it and we are all learning every run.”  

Prock now has wins this season in Phoenix, Bristol, Tenn., Richmond, Va., and Seattle. He also won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday in Seattle.

“We learned some things [Saturday], and we changed a lot of things in the setup" for Sunday, Austin said. “Just kudos to those guys. They won this race. I didn’t drive all that hot this weekend. I was consistent, but consistently slow on the starting line. They did an outstanding job and really carried the team. They have to carry me when I’m down, and I got to carry them when they are down. We have been doing a great job of that this year, and it sure has been fun.”

Prock, who is leading the points standings, has had a meteoric rise in the Funny Car ranks. Prock never raced a Funny Car full-time until this season. He was thrust into this role when three-time world champion driver Robert Hight was sidelined with a medical condition, and he took his seat.

From 2019-23, Prock drove a Top Fuel dragster for John Force Racing, finishing a career-best third in the points in 2022. He collected four national-event wins and three No. 1 qualifiers.

“It did cross my mind" that Lee was trying to get his first national event win, Prock said. “Especially when Chase Van Sant got his first win [Sunday in Pro Stock Motorcycle]. That Paul Lee car, they are no joke. All year long they have been throwing off really, really impressive runs. It is a new setup, and they have new crew chiefs over there and it is going to take a little bit of time to build that notebook and get that consistency. I was really excited for that team. I have known John Medlen forever. Eric [Medlen[ was my hero and my mentor. The Medlen family always has a special place in my heart and I’m even dating one. Hopefully, I’m invited to dinner next week.

“Jonnie Lindberg [Lee’s crew chief] is doing a very impressive job this year tuning that race car. He has great mentor in John Medlen. I was super proud of the results that they got. It sucks to have to beat them like that, but you know it is business.”

Prock’s victory march Sunday started with a bye run in the first round, followed by victories over Cruz Pedregon, J.R. Todd and Lee.

“It's very impressive,” said Prock, who has opened a 200-point lead atop the standings. “This team's been outstanding since the door dropped three days after Bradenton [Fla.]. We sucked the first three days, then the switch flipped, and they've been on it since. It's really been a blur to me. I can't even comprehend the success that we've had, the amount of runs that we've had, the number of qualifying points that we've accumulated, rounds on race day. It's a fairy tale and I hope we can keep it going, but there's no signs of slowing down right now, and that's very promising.”

Prock also joined an elite club Sunday. He became the fourth driver to capture Top Fuel and Funny Car victories in Seattle. Prock won his Top Fuel crown in 2019.

The other members of that elite club are: Tommy Johnson Jr., Top Fuel in 1993 and Funny Car in 2015; Ron Capps, Top Fuel in 1995, Funny Car in 2016 and '18; and Del Worsham, Top Fuel in 2011 after a Funny Car win in 1999.

All of Prock's runs Sunday were in the 3.80-second range.

“See, that's how much I pay attention. I didn't even realize that. My mind is just mush right now," Prock said. "I'm just trying to process everything and just make sure I do my job. And I've been saying it every week, but these Funny Cars are hard to drive. This place is another racetrack where it is hard to drive. The left lane wants to put you in the wall and the right lane wants to put you over the center line. So, a lot of steering input goes into this and just trying to be smooth because when you're on the ragged edge like that, you yank on that wheel, Jim Prock will be very angry with you.”

In addition to his race wins, Prock also has been No. 1 qualifier this year in Gainesville, Fla., Phoenix, Las Vegas, Chicago, Epping, N.H., Bristol, Tenn., Norwalk, Ohio and Seattle.

He has a stellar 27-7 elimination round record this season, and it has been a grind.

“I mean, I'm sore at the end of the weekends, but mostly it's because Bobby Lane Jr. He's one of the higher-ups on the team for sure, he bolts me in there so tight,” Austin said. “I mean, he bruises my shoulder. So, if something ever goes wrong, he always says, ‘It's not going to be on me.’ My shoulders and hips are bruised every weekend, but we're halfway into the season. My body's becoming more accustomed to the G-forces on these race cars and all sorts of things. We got that out the way. But this class is mentally tough. All these classes are mentally tough. Just trying to stay focused and one moment at a time as Lanny Miglizzi [John Force Racing track specialist] says. It's all working out right now.”

Up next for Austin is the Denso NHRA Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals next weekend, July 26-28.

“I'm excited. I mean, I'd like to race this thing every day, all the way up until the Monday after Sonoma if I could,” Prock said. “These back-to-back races definitely help me. They help me get back in the rhythm of things. ... I wasn't very impressed with my driving performance this weekend, so going back-to-back, I'm going to hopefully get back in that rhythm and take my rookie stripes and hopefully be able to be better the next race we go into after sitting out a couple weeks.”