Austin Prock, the Funny Car points leader, won his second straight race on Sunday for John Force Racing, defeating Bob Tasca III in the final round with the fastest run of the weekend at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals. Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won the ninth of twenty races in the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Prock went 3.921s at 327.90mph in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to power past Tasca and pick up his third win of 2024 in his debut season in Funny Car. Prock dedicated the win to his boss, legendary Funny Car driver John Force, who was involved in a crash in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.
Force suffered an engine explosion at the finish line and then crossed the centerline, striking both guard walls before coming to a stop. The 16-time world champion was alert and was examined onsite before being transported to a local medical facility for further evaluation.
“This win is definitely dedicated to John Force,” Prock said. “This is one for the books and there were a lot of emotions today and we had to battle a bunch of adversity. This trophy is definitely going back to him. I wanted to get it done for him and this is really special. I’m super proud of this team to get it done with everything that went on and keeping my head together.
“We wanted to get it done for him, but I almost felt like I was feeling the pressure early on in the day. I drove terrible in the second and third round. This team’s busting their tail out in this heat, and I don’t want to be the weak link and I wanted to get it done for John.”
Prock reached the final round with wins against Cruz Pedregon, Ron Capps and defending world champ Matt Hagan, while Tasca advanced to the championship round for the second time this season with victories against Dave Richards, Tim Wilkerson and Blake Alexander.
