Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
NORWALK, Ohio (June 27, 2025) – Two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force showed off crew chief David Grubnic’s hot weather tune-up with a best-of-the-session 3.784 second, 331.77 mile per hour performance in the afternoon heat Friday at Summit Motorsports Park but couldn’t improve in cooler conditions Friday evening and will move to Day 2 of the 18th NHRA Norwalk Nationals in the provisional No. 4 position.
Her Funny Car teammates at John Force Racing, Austin Prock and Jack Beckman, were second and fourth in the provisional order, Prock at 3.900 seconds, 331.28 mph in the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS and Beckman at 3.913 seconds, 321.35 mph in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy SS.
Qualifying continues Saturday with two final sessions in which Prock and Beckman also will be racing for points and bonus money in the Mission Foods 2Fast/2Tasty Challenge series in which both have won already this year.
“The second session, we just pushed a little too hard and unfortunately, we didn’t get down there,” Brittany said of a disappointing 6.346 second run in her Chevrolet Accessories dragster. “So, we’re looking forward to two more runs tomorrow, most likely in the heat, before we head into race day on Sunday.”
After opening with a jaw-dropping 3.936 at 327.74 mph run in the afternoon heat that made him the only driver to break 4.00 seconds, Prock drove the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS through the timers in a solid, if not spectacular 3.900 at 331.28 mph Friday night.
“Good day here in Norwalk,” said the reigning series champion, current point leader and track record holder. “We were low of the first session by a pretty big chunk, which definitely felt good. We made a decent pass in the second session to put us No. 2 at the end of the day but we gathered up five qualifying bonus points, which is nice, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow and the 2Fast/2Tasty Challenge.
“Hopefully, we can make two more clean runs and walk away with some more points, cash and some hardware,” he said.
Like Prock, Beckman made two strong runs on Friday, negotiating the 1,000-foot course in 4.012 seconds on his first attempt and in 3.913 seconds at 321.35 mph on the second.
“We are chasing some rough weather conditions here,” said the three-time Norwalk winner. “It’s a good track (but) it’s hot and we’re adjusting our power level to get it back to what this car needs to be able to push hard to run near the top of the pack.
“The good news is we missed it a little bit in both Friday sessions, and we still were fourth best in each of them,” he said. “Our car still runs near the top of the sheet. The better news is that with the data we have, we’re fairly certain we know how to address it for tomorrow and Sunday.”
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NORWALK, Ohio (June 27, 2025) – Two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force showed off crew chief David Grubnic’s hot weather tune-up with a best-of-the-session 3.784 second, 331.77 mile per hour performance in the afternoon heat Friday at Summit Motorsports Park but couldn’t improve in cooler conditions Friday evening and will move to Day 2 of the 18th NHRA Norwalk Nationals in the provisional No. 4 position.
Her Funny Car teammates at John Force Racing, Austin Prock and Jack Beckman, were second and fourth in the provisional order, Prock at 3.900 seconds, 331.28 mph in the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS and Beckman at 3.913 seconds, 321.35 mph in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy SS.
Qualifying continues Saturday with two final sessions in which Prock and Beckman also will be racing for points and bonus money in the Mission Foods 2Fast/2Tasty Challenge series in which both have won already this year.
“The second session, we just pushed a little too hard and unfortunately, we didn’t get down there,” Brittany said of a disappointing 6.346 second run in her Chevrolet Accessories dragster. “So, we’re looking forward to two more runs tomorrow, most likely in the heat, before we head into race day on Sunday.”
After opening with a jaw-dropping 3.936 at 327.74 mph run in the afternoon heat that made him the only driver to break 4.00 seconds, Prock drove the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS through the timers in a solid, if not spectacular 3.900 at 331.28 mph Friday night.
“Good day here in Norwalk,” said the reigning series champion, current point leader and track record holder. “We were low of the first session by a pretty big chunk, which definitely felt good. We made a decent pass in the second session to put us No. 2 at the end of the day but we gathered up five qualifying bonus points, which is nice, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow and the 2Fast/2Tasty Challenge.
“Hopefully, we can make two more clean runs and walk away with some more points, cash and some hardware,” he said.
Like Prock, Beckman made two strong runs on Friday, negotiating the 1,000-foot course in 4.012 seconds on his first attempt and in 3.913 seconds at 321.35 mph on the second.
“We are chasing some rough weather conditions here,” said the three-time Norwalk winner. “It’s a good track (but) it’s hot and we’re adjusting our power level to get it back to what this car needs to be able to push hard to run near the top of the pack.
“The good news is we missed it a little bit in both Friday sessions, and we still were fourth best in each of them,” he said. “Our car still runs near the top of the sheet. The better news is that with the data we have, we’re fairly certain we know how to address it for tomorrow and Sunday.”
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