Taking full advantage of cooler evening air and track temperatures, point leader Austin Prock for the second straight event drove the AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS to the quickest elapsed time of the season, in the process grabbing the provisional No. 1 qualifying position for Sunday’s 39th annual Texas Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.
The 29-year-old covered the 1,000-foot distance in a track record 3.813 seconds at a finish line speed of 333.09 miles per hour, a performance that earned him a $15,000 bonus from Motorplex owners Billy Meyer and Christie Johnson and placed him on the threshold of Funny Car history.
If his Friday number stands up through two final rounds of qualifying Saturday, as it should since conditions won’t come close to approximating those of Friday night, Prock will equal boss and mentor John Force’s record for No. 1 starts in a single season (13) with two races remaining in which to break it.
“I was definitely jacked-up for that one,” Prock said, “but the credit goes to the AAA team behind me. They’re just unbelievable and I’m having a blast. This track is very difficult to drive, especially at night, so I just tried to put it in the middle (of the lane) and keep it straight.”
Not to be overshadowed, two-time World Champion Brittany Force, Prock’s John Force Racing teammate, drove her HendrickCars.com dragster to the quickest Top Fuel time of the night at 3.667 seconds at 338.19 mph, just missing the track speed record of 338.40 mph set last year by Justin Ashley. Like Prock, she collected a $15,000 bonus.
She is on pace to qualify No. 1 for the third time in the last five races and for the third time in her last five appearances at the Motorplex.
“We’ve been struggling,” said the 16-time tour winner, “and to put a 3.66 on the board at 338 miles per hour, we’re very proud of that,” she said. “That’s David Grubnic. That’s his entire HendrickCars.com team. We’ve been pushing all season long, trying to do that (and) just to be able to have a killer run like that, we’re currently sitting number one.
“We get to take home a check and some Corral cowboy boots and really just boost our confidence and the team morale. We’re ready to attack the rest of the weekend.
“When they were in the tow car coming down to pick me up, they were screaming in the car, they were patting each other on the back, they were pumped about it,” she said. “And that’s what we are used to doing. You know, we’ve done that for so many years and we’ve been so successful, so to come into last season and this season and, you know, not have that and not be able to repeat, that has been tough for us, but we kept our confidence up. We kept pushing. We all believe in this car. We all believe in each other.“
The third JFR driver, Jack Beckman, wasn’t too shabby either, chauffeuring the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro to a time of 3.825 seconds at 331.49 mph, good enough for the No. 3 position in the provisional order behind only Prock and reigning series champion Matt Hagan (3.823).
“Another excellent day for the PEAK Chevrolet,” said the St. Louis winner. “We opened up qualifying with a solid 3.90 run, then came back in the night session and tied the quickest run that I have ever made in my career and ended up in the number three spot. I can’t say enough about the job every person is doing on this crew.”
Prock’s Friday heroics came just two weeks after he stopped the timers in 3.814 seconds at World Wide Technology Raceway outside St. Louis. The last time a Funny Car covered the standard distance more quickly than Prock did on Friday was Labor Day weekend, 2017, when Matt Hagan qualified No. 1 for the NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, Ind., at 3.799 seconds just two weeks after Robert Hight lowered the NHRA national record to its current 3.793 seconds at Brainerd, Minn.
Until St. Louis, Hight’s 3.816 last Oct. 29 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a car prepared by basically the same Jimmy Prock-led crew, had been the quickest since 2017.
“It’s really cool to run 3.81 in back-to-back races like that,” said the 10-time pro tour winner. “It’s just a true testament to how great this John Force Racing organization is and how great my dad (crew chief Jimmy Prock), Thomas (his brother) and Nate Hildahl all do tuning this race car along with these guys holding it together.”
Ironically, it was not Prock’s first time taking home the $15,000 Motorplex bonus. Two years ago, while he still was driving the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Top Fuel dragster, he also was quickest on Friday night at the ‘Plex at 3.682 seconds.
