Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 26, 2025) – The Prock Rocket knocked one out of the park in second-round qualifying for the NHRA Midwest Nationals on Friday night when Austin Prock drove his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car to low elapsed time of the day with a run 3.845 seconds at 337.14 mph at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Prock was presented with an engraved Rawlings Top Hitter shiny red baseball bat trophy for his efforts following the round.
John Force Racing teammates Brittany Force and Jack Beckman each shut off early in their second-round attempts so relied on their first round postings to set their positions in the field. Force’s HendrickCars.com Top Fuel Dragster sits fifth after running 3.709 seconds and establishing the new track speed record at 340.47 mph, her 11th 340-mile run of the season. Beckman, who won his first race for John Force Racing at last year’s Midwest Nationals, is ninth on the 16-car ladder with a lap of 3.906 seconds at 328.54 mph in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car.
The final two rounds of qualifying are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, at 12:15 and 3 p.m. CT. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. C.T. on Sunday, Sept. 28.
Quote from Austin Prock, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“That was a great run for the Cornwell Tools Chevy. To be the provisional No. 1 Qualifier feels good. It’s been a couple weekends since we’ve been able to do that. It was a nice clean pass. It felt really smooth leaving the starting line even though that left lane seemed very difficult to drive tonight. A lot of cars, earlier in the session, were getting inside and there’s just not as much traction towards the center line. So, I was a little bit clinched going up there because I didn’t want to make that mistake. I worked with Lanny Miglizzi (traction specialist) and my crew chiefs on how I was going to aim the race car and it went right down the center of the race track. That’s really key at this place, especially just because of the bump in the racing surface at 500 feet. You want to make sure you’re squared up going over that thing and give it the best chance of hooking back up once it lands back on the ground.”
Quote from Brittany Force, HendrickCars.com Tools Top Fuel Dragster:
“The HendrickCars.com team had a killer first run that put us in the top spot for the session. We put a 340 on the board, which was awesome for the St. Louis fans. In Q2, we were pushing to see what we could get away with. Unfortunately, it drove into smoke, then made a hard right turn toward the wall. I pulled my foot out of it and we were done for the evening. We’re currently sitting in fifth, but we get two more shots at it tomorrow.”
Quotes from Jack Beckman, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“We were third quickest of the first round and the quickest car in the left lane. And then you go up there for the second run and, man, was it dark. The track didn’t cool down that much but you have to remember the first qualifying session was one of the better Q1s that we’ve had in the last couple of years. So, we turned all the knobs to the faster setting and just missed it. We usually look at our computer, and the GO/NO Go is how fast the rear tires are rotating at one second into the run. I think five times out of 10 times, it would have made it, and our numbers were spectacular, but it’s woulda/coulda/shoulda, right? We got some data from it. We’ll come back tomorrow. Our goal at this point is going to be gathering data for Sunday’s race, but we’d also like to be a top half car. We’re ninth right now, and we think tomorrow, even with a much hotter racetrack, we still should be able to run high enough to get the PEAK SQUAD Chevy into the top eight.”
TV Schedule (all times Eastern)
Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 28 and then eliminations coverage starting at 3 p.m. ET.
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MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 26, 2025) – The Prock Rocket knocked one out of the park in second-round qualifying for the NHRA Midwest Nationals on Friday night when Austin Prock drove his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car to low elapsed time of the day with a run 3.845 seconds at 337.14 mph at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Prock was presented with an engraved Rawlings Top Hitter shiny red baseball bat trophy for his efforts following the round.
John Force Racing teammates Brittany Force and Jack Beckman each shut off early in their second-round attempts so relied on their first round postings to set their positions in the field. Force’s HendrickCars.com Top Fuel Dragster sits fifth after running 3.709 seconds and establishing the new track speed record at 340.47 mph, her 11th 340-mile run of the season. Beckman, who won his first race for John Force Racing at last year’s Midwest Nationals, is ninth on the 16-car ladder with a lap of 3.906 seconds at 328.54 mph in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car.
The final two rounds of qualifying are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, at 12:15 and 3 p.m. CT. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. C.T. on Sunday, Sept. 28.
Quote from Austin Prock, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“That was a great run for the Cornwell Tools Chevy. To be the provisional No. 1 Qualifier feels good. It’s been a couple weekends since we’ve been able to do that. It was a nice clean pass. It felt really smooth leaving the starting line even though that left lane seemed very difficult to drive tonight. A lot of cars, earlier in the session, were getting inside and there’s just not as much traction towards the center line. So, I was a little bit clinched going up there because I didn’t want to make that mistake. I worked with Lanny Miglizzi (traction specialist) and my crew chiefs on how I was going to aim the race car and it went right down the center of the race track. That’s really key at this place, especially just because of the bump in the racing surface at 500 feet. You want to make sure you’re squared up going over that thing and give it the best chance of hooking back up once it lands back on the ground.”
Quote from Brittany Force, HendrickCars.com Tools Top Fuel Dragster:
“The HendrickCars.com team had a killer first run that put us in the top spot for the session. We put a 340 on the board, which was awesome for the St. Louis fans. In Q2, we were pushing to see what we could get away with. Unfortunately, it drove into smoke, then made a hard right turn toward the wall. I pulled my foot out of it and we were done for the evening. We’re currently sitting in fifth, but we get two more shots at it tomorrow.”
Quotes from Jack Beckman, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“We were third quickest of the first round and the quickest car in the left lane. And then you go up there for the second run and, man, was it dark. The track didn’t cool down that much but you have to remember the first qualifying session was one of the better Q1s that we’ve had in the last couple of years. So, we turned all the knobs to the faster setting and just missed it. We usually look at our computer, and the GO/NO Go is how fast the rear tires are rotating at one second into the run. I think five times out of 10 times, it would have made it, and our numbers were spectacular, but it’s woulda/coulda/shoulda, right? We got some data from it. We’ll come back tomorrow. Our goal at this point is going to be gathering data for Sunday’s race, but we’d also like to be a top half car. We’re ninth right now, and we think tomorrow, even with a much hotter racetrack, we still should be able to run high enough to get the PEAK SQUAD Chevy into the top eight.”
TV Schedule (all times Eastern)
Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 28 and then eliminations coverage starting at 3 p.m. ET.
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Continue reading...
