Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 20, 2025) – Brittany Force earned her 57th career Top Fuel No. 1 Qualifier position while her John Force Racing Funny Car teammates Austin Prock and Jack Beckman placed third and ninth, respectively, heading into Sunday’s three eliminations rounds for the NHRA Mission Foods NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway.
Force’s HendrickCars.com Top Fuel dragster ran consistent in all four qualifying passes of the weekend, with her Friday night run of 3.698 seconds at 338.85 setting the standard. On Saturday, with temperatures in the upper 80s, she ran 3.823 seconds at 327.66 mph in the first session and 3.785 seconds at 333.91 mph in the final pass. It is her fifth No. 1 Qualifier position of 2025, after earning the top spot at Pomona, Virginia, Sonoma, and Indianapolis. She has lane choice when she faces Shawn Reed and Tony Stewart in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.
Prock’s Friday night session run of 3.900 seconds at 327.74 mph put him in second place on the ladder but, despite consistent runs in Saturday’s heat, he ended up in the third qualifying position. Prock’s Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS ran 3.933 seconds at 329.67 mph in the first session and 3.928 seconds at 328.94 mph in the final session. He’ll have first lane choice Sunday in his opening-round matchup against Bob Tasca III, Hunter Green and Alex Laughlin.
Beckman bounced back Saturday after atypical runs in Friday’s two sessions. Despite track temperatures exceeding 125 degrees, The PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS ran 3.969 seconds at 326.00 mph in the first lap down the track and 3.938 seconds at 326.08 mph in the final pass. He was eighth after that final run but was bumped to the bottom half of the ladder after the final quad of Funny Cars made their runs. Beckman will have third lane choice when face Matt Hagan, J.R. Todd, and John Smith.
Final eliminations are scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 21, at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Quotes from Brittany Force, HendrickCars.com Top Fuel Dragster:
“We had two great runs today, ending with a nice 3.78, and I think second quickest of the day. We’ve had four solid consistent runs down the drag strip, and we were in the heat both days. The heat is always where we struggle. We usually don’t get down clean all four runs, but this was how qualifying went down for us. We’re all very happy with that. It’s what we plan to do every single weekend. We just we haven’t been getting there, so this was just outstanding for our HendrickCars.com team going into tomorrow.
“Mr. Hendrick was here today and it’s neat to see his enthusiasm and enjoyment for drag racing. He’s not just showing up: he’s at the starting line seeing each car go down the track. It’s really awesome to have a partner that comes out to the racetrack and sits in your tow car with you and talks with your guys before the round. It’s so awesome to have somebody that’s that connected to the sport, really enjoys being here. We’re so proud to be teamed up with him and to run the HendrickCars.com paint scheme this weekend, so we want to do well for him. We’re in a good place, got him that number one and I know he’s proud of it. He’s pumped, he’s excited, he loves NHRA Drag Racing, so the ultimate plan is to get him in the winner’s circle tomorrow.”
Quotes from Austin Prock, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I got down the racetrack all four sessions and earned bonus points all four sessions. The Cornwell Tools Chevy was on a good run there that last one. This thing hasn’t been exactly perfect all weekend. We’ve been tickling it and changing a lot of things on the race car to try and get it to wake up, but it’s still running good enough to land in the top three so I feel really comfortable about tomorrow. I’ve been driving pretty good despite being under the weather all weekend but I’ll get a good night’s rest and be a little sportier behind the wheel tomorrow. You can’t be upset with earning points every session. We’re not the No. 1 Qualifier but we’re still in the top three. A good consistent race car on a weekend like this, especially in a four-wide and the heat, can go a long way. I know the guys will keep tickling it and it’ll be something to play with tomorrow.”
Quotes from Jack Beckman, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I think it’s accurate to say we stumbled on Friday. Run one, we dropped the cylinder. Run two, we overpowered the racetrack, and then we made all good calls on Saturday in the heat of the day. We’ll start from ninth because we didn’t run good in the Friday night session. We’ll have three powerhouses and one upset-minded car out there in the first round so it will be big. We have to go up against the No. 1 qualifier and we’ll only have third choice of lanes. It is what it is. We can’t change any of that. I think we’re racing smart right now. The PEAK SQUAD have all night to go over the data, look at what the racetrack gives us tomorrow morning and, in their minds, they’re going to have three or four different tune-up profiles ready to go for whatever track temperature and lane we get put in. Somebody’s getting that trophy tomorrow so it might as well be the PEAK Chevy.
TV Schedule (all times Eastern)
Television coverage on Sunday, Sept. 21, includes qualifying action on FS1 at 10 a.m. ET and then live coverage eliminations at 12 p.m. ET.
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CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 20, 2025) – Brittany Force earned her 57th career Top Fuel No. 1 Qualifier position while her John Force Racing Funny Car teammates Austin Prock and Jack Beckman placed third and ninth, respectively, heading into Sunday’s three eliminations rounds for the NHRA Mission Foods NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway.
Force’s HendrickCars.com Top Fuel dragster ran consistent in all four qualifying passes of the weekend, with her Friday night run of 3.698 seconds at 338.85 setting the standard. On Saturday, with temperatures in the upper 80s, she ran 3.823 seconds at 327.66 mph in the first session and 3.785 seconds at 333.91 mph in the final pass. It is her fifth No. 1 Qualifier position of 2025, after earning the top spot at Pomona, Virginia, Sonoma, and Indianapolis. She has lane choice when she faces Shawn Reed and Tony Stewart in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.
Prock’s Friday night session run of 3.900 seconds at 327.74 mph put him in second place on the ladder but, despite consistent runs in Saturday’s heat, he ended up in the third qualifying position. Prock’s Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS ran 3.933 seconds at 329.67 mph in the first session and 3.928 seconds at 328.94 mph in the final session. He’ll have first lane choice Sunday in his opening-round matchup against Bob Tasca III, Hunter Green and Alex Laughlin.
Beckman bounced back Saturday after atypical runs in Friday’s two sessions. Despite track temperatures exceeding 125 degrees, The PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS ran 3.969 seconds at 326.00 mph in the first lap down the track and 3.938 seconds at 326.08 mph in the final pass. He was eighth after that final run but was bumped to the bottom half of the ladder after the final quad of Funny Cars made their runs. Beckman will have third lane choice when face Matt Hagan, J.R. Todd, and John Smith.
Final eliminations are scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 21, at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Quotes from Brittany Force, HendrickCars.com Top Fuel Dragster:
“We had two great runs today, ending with a nice 3.78, and I think second quickest of the day. We’ve had four solid consistent runs down the drag strip, and we were in the heat both days. The heat is always where we struggle. We usually don’t get down clean all four runs, but this was how qualifying went down for us. We’re all very happy with that. It’s what we plan to do every single weekend. We just we haven’t been getting there, so this was just outstanding for our HendrickCars.com team going into tomorrow.
“Mr. Hendrick was here today and it’s neat to see his enthusiasm and enjoyment for drag racing. He’s not just showing up: he’s at the starting line seeing each car go down the track. It’s really awesome to have a partner that comes out to the racetrack and sits in your tow car with you and talks with your guys before the round. It’s so awesome to have somebody that’s that connected to the sport, really enjoys being here. We’re so proud to be teamed up with him and to run the HendrickCars.com paint scheme this weekend, so we want to do well for him. We’re in a good place, got him that number one and I know he’s proud of it. He’s pumped, he’s excited, he loves NHRA Drag Racing, so the ultimate plan is to get him in the winner’s circle tomorrow.”
Quotes from Austin Prock, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I got down the racetrack all four sessions and earned bonus points all four sessions. The Cornwell Tools Chevy was on a good run there that last one. This thing hasn’t been exactly perfect all weekend. We’ve been tickling it and changing a lot of things on the race car to try and get it to wake up, but it’s still running good enough to land in the top three so I feel really comfortable about tomorrow. I’ve been driving pretty good despite being under the weather all weekend but I’ll get a good night’s rest and be a little sportier behind the wheel tomorrow. You can’t be upset with earning points every session. We’re not the No. 1 Qualifier but we’re still in the top three. A good consistent race car on a weekend like this, especially in a four-wide and the heat, can go a long way. I know the guys will keep tickling it and it’ll be something to play with tomorrow.”
Quotes from Jack Beckman, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I think it’s accurate to say we stumbled on Friday. Run one, we dropped the cylinder. Run two, we overpowered the racetrack, and then we made all good calls on Saturday in the heat of the day. We’ll start from ninth because we didn’t run good in the Friday night session. We’ll have three powerhouses and one upset-minded car out there in the first round so it will be big. We have to go up against the No. 1 qualifier and we’ll only have third choice of lanes. It is what it is. We can’t change any of that. I think we’re racing smart right now. The PEAK SQUAD have all night to go over the data, look at what the racetrack gives us tomorrow morning and, in their minds, they’re going to have three or four different tune-up profiles ready to go for whatever track temperature and lane we get put in. Somebody’s getting that trophy tomorrow so it might as well be the PEAK Chevy.
TV Schedule (all times Eastern)
Television coverage on Sunday, Sept. 21, includes qualifying action on FS1 at 10 a.m. ET and then live coverage eliminations at 12 p.m. ET.
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Continue reading...