If the Funny Car field hasn’t realized it yet, they have been hustled by a so-called rookie intent on winning every accolade in the class, including a series championship.
Austin Prock, in the Mission Foods Countdown to the Championship opener, secured his sixth victory this season, stopping teammate Jack Beckman in the final round of the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.
Joining them in the winner’s circle was past champion Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock), and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Prock recorded a 3.896-second pass at 332.51 mph in his Chevrolet Camaro SS, beating Beckman’s 3.951 at 330.88. The victory gives Prock a 10th career win and strengthens his points lead by 86, a little over four rounds, over Bob Tasca III with five races remaining.
“It feels great to rack up some points and get a little bit of a gap over second again. It definitely feels good,” Prock said. “This is the best way you can start out the Countdown – No. 1 qualifier, we got points almost every round and the car was flying today, and we ended up holding another Wally. Kudos to this Cornwell Tools team for allowing me to do this.
“We saw the ladder last night and said we have two cars capable of meeting in the final round, and that was the goal today, and we executed perfectly. Jack drove his tail off today, and I’m really proud of him. He’s getting comfortable and becoming lethal in that car. He was mowing the tree down, and that thing runs as well as any of these cars out here. It’s great to see him and the team having success right off the bat like they are.”
Prock advanced through eliminations by knocking out Mike Smith, Chad Green, and Tasca before sealing the win.
Beckman reached his first final since returning to Brainerd, defeating Joe Morrison, J.R. Todd, and Alexis DeJoria.
Brown’s Top Fuel win was his fourth of the season and came at the expense of Shawn Langdon. His run of 3.798 seconds at 327.27 mph edged out Langdon and moved him within one point of series leader Justin Ashley.
“Going into raceday, we knew we were going to have something, but the track got a little bit trickier than we thought it was. It was medieval out there. A lot of people were spinning the tires, but we made it far enough down the track,” Brown said. “Brian Corradi, Mark (Oswald), all of our Matco boys gave me a car that went the distance. We were just better than everybody that we raced at that time. When we got to the final, we knew it was going to be a monster matchup.
“I knew Shawn was going to run about the same E.T. and it was going to be who can leave the starting line. Lo and behold, I was able to keep my head down and we got a little bit of an advantage right there and the car outran him. It was one of those deals, we got the win and the car was smooth down the racetrack. It felt really good when that win light came on; we needed a start like that if we wanted to be in this race to win this championship.”
Brown’s road to his 78th career win included wins over Jasmine Salinas, Tony Schumacher, and Dan Mercier.
The Top Fuel points standings are incredibly close as Langdon’s runner-up finish pulled him within six points of Ashley.
The Stanfield Pro Stock hot streak continued to get hotter as he earned his fifth win of the season after defeating teammate Erica Enders on a holeshot. Stanfield’s pass of 6.569 seconds at 209.26 mph pushed him into the points lead for the first time this year.
It feels great. Momentum is real,” Stanfield said. “Things have been rolling our way, and we’ve been getting those round wins when we need them to go our way. We did our job today, Erica and I and all our guys. We put both of our JHG/Melling cars in the final round there, and that was the goal.
“When you start out No. 2, you know you’ve got a shot. I know the equipment I’m in, and I know how hungry my guys are to win. We definitely have a shot here; we just need to keep this momentum that we’ve got rolling.”
Stanfield now leads Dallas Glenn by nine points, with Enders 35 points back
Enders reached the final after victories over Mason McGaha, Matt Hartford, and Greg Anderson.
In a break from the Gaige Herrera and Matt Smith slugfest, Arana snuck up on the two with his first win of the season. He earned his first Pro Stock Motorcycle win of the season and 19th career victory, defeating Richard Gadson with a 6.839-second run at 198.38 mph.
Arana, who also defeated Gaige Herrera in the semifinals, moves to fourth in the points standings.
“We got everything together, and here we are in the winner’s circle,” Arana said. “Now it’s time to turn it on for the rest of the Countdown.”
Gadson reached the final round for the second time this season, while Herrera remains in the points lead, 17 points ahead of Matt Smith.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series continues Sept. 20-22 with the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.
