Top Fuel’s Austin Prock won the first race of the 2022 NHRA Countdown to the Championship in September at Reading, Pa., and he won the last one of the Countdown Sunday evening at Pomona, Calif. 

But what happened before the Countdown and occasionally in between his playoff victories was gnawing at him, making him feel like he was “the weak link of John Force Racing.” 

The driver of the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Dragster saw Brittany Force shattering elapsed-time and speed records at just about every stop on the Camping World Drag Racing Series tour. Robert Hight – with Prock’s father, Jimmy, doing the tuning – was leading the Funny Car points for most of the season. Boss John Force, even at age 73, was a top-five driver with a legitimate shot at a 17th title. 

“Everybody else was succeeding, and we just couldn't get the job done,” Prock said. 

But in the NHRA Finals, he used a 3.641-second, 336.23-mph pass on the 1,000-foot Auto Club Raceway course to defeat series and event runner-up Antron Brown’s 3.701, 320.74. And as he climbed and stood atop the rear wing of his dragster, Prock knew he was pulling his weight in the John Force Racing organization. 

Instead of being what he characterized as “the laughingstock,” Prock turned out to be far more successful than he though. He capped his rather erratic season with his career-best E.T. in the final round to finish third in the final standings, 82 points behind Force and just 20 points behind Brown. Prock ended up four points ahead of No. 4 Justin Ashley, who was Force’s closest challenger heading into the season finale. 

Although the journey was a distressing one for Prock, he said he would glean some positives from it all. 

“You know what? I think it just showed determination,” he said. “Even when we were beat up, we were still striving to get that success we needed, and it was tough. I dream about driving this thing, and through the middle of the season, I wasn't even enjoying being at the track, just because it was painful. And it honestly got to a point where it started to be scary, because we were blowing that thing up left and right. And I'm like, ‘All it takes is one bad chunk of metal to cut a tire and you're just along for the ride.’ We got it all straightened out and really enjoyed the last half of the season. So, I just think it teaches you just to stay level-headed, don't get too high, don't get too low. And my dad has taught me that my whole life. But when everything's on the line and you're trying to do good for your sponsors and your team – and in my case, I've lost my ride before – so all those things start playing in your head. And it just eats at you. And you can't let it get to you. Just got to go up there, do the best you can, and see how your cards fall.” 

They fell right in line, maybe more than he had hoped they would, considering some of the emotions he experienced. 

By the U.S. Nationals, Prock was just starting to heal from an injured hand – a result of being so frustrated at Topeka that he got out of his car and punched it. 

“I live, eat, and breathe this stuff. And I was fed up,” he said. “We weren't doing a good job, and it was wearing on me and I exploded. You know, it wasn't even so much that we lost that round. It was the fact that how much money we were spending. It ain't cheap to blow one of these things up. It ain’t even cheap to drag it up there, let alone level it top to bottom. And I think that's what was getting to me the most. It took the brain trust to get everything back in line.” 

And he could become depressed if he thought about how he might have made the championship battle an all-John Force Racing affair if he had gotten a better run at the Countdown and kept his momentum going after the Reading race. 

He said, “We could have rolled in here like eighth or ninth, probably, in the Countdown and probably won this deal.” He began the playoffs in 11th place, a bit chagrined he got into the chase by the NHRA’s ”mercy rule” that allows non-top-10 drivers to participate if they attend every race and make at least two qualifying passes. It wasn’t what he envisioned for himself. He had higher standards. 

“So it just speaks volumes for how hard everybody was working and when we fixed it, they knew we were here,” Prock said. “I enjoyed this Countdown so much. It was so much fun going rounds. 

“Racing can be a real pain sometimes when you're struggling, especially when you live it like this. It runs your life. You know your mood is down even when you're away from the racetrack, when you're struggling, at least for me,” he said. “So I just had a blast in this Countdown, going rounds. Everybody's morale was up, the team did a great job, nobody missed a beat. And we went from being the laughingstock essentially, to the car to beat pretty much overnight with three or four test runs in Indy. So everybody showed up when we had to.” 

Veteran tuner Rahn Tobler, co-crew chief with Joe Barlam, has retired a of this race, and Prock said, “He’s going out on top in Top Fuel. 

“I'm so happy for Rahn Tobler. I've had a blast working with him this year. He's an absolute legend in the sport, and to go out on his last race like he did tonight speaks volumes for what he's done for the sport,” Prock said. “So that was the quickest run he's ever made in history, and it was the last one, too. And it was the semifinals, I just heard, were the quickest side-by-side run ever. So I'm just really proud of Rahn. I've had so much fun racing with him this year. I still get butterflies when I watch him roll me into the beams, just because he's accomplished so much in the sport and he believes in me to drive his race car. Came out of retirement to come work with me, and that means a lot to me, gives me a lot of confidence. And I'm glad we went out on top with him.”