Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
BRAINERD, MINN. (Aug. 17, 2025) – Austin Prock woke up determined to better his reaction time performance during today’s NHRA Mission Foods Lucas Oil Nationals and the John Force Racing Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car driver saved his best for the championship round at Brainerd International Raceway.
The reigning Funny Car Champion and current season point leader cut a .043-of-a-second reaction time against J.R. Todd, whom he finished runner-up to at this race last year. Prock went on to clock a lap of 3.907 seconds at 321.50 mph while Todd’s run went up in tire smoke. His reaction times in the first three rounds were .048, 048, and .052, giving him a four-run average of a stunning .047.
“I was consistent throughout qualifying but I was about a hundredth slower than I wanted to be, or where I felt like I needed to be,” said Prock. So, this morning I woke up and just all the stars aligned for this Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS team. I got after it and attacked the Christmas Tree and had probably one of my best driving performances leaving the starting line in either category, Top Fuel or Funny Car. That definitely makes me feel good, especially going into the U.S Nationals.
After qualifying second, Prock tripped the win light in the first three rounds of Sunday’s competition under cool and cloudy skies, putting Jim Campbell, Matt Hagan, and Chad Green on the trailer before facing Todd in the final.
It was Prock’s sixth win, and second straight, in 13 races this season and 14th in his brief 33-race Funny Car career. The Prock Rocket heads into the Aug. 27-Sept. 1 Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park with a dominating 242-point ahead of John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman.
“I think it was a little bit of everything, you know, getting (Cornwell Tools crew members) Nate Hill and Sam Stuckmeyer their first Brainerd win,” said Prock when asked about the intensity in his voice during his post-race interview at the top end of the track. “Nate’s attempted this race 13 times, and he’s been with my dad the entire time and he’s never got it done. Last year, I gave it away. And this year, you know, to race the same driver and get on the other end of the stick, obviously felt good. But I was focused on myself today. I went out there and I executed.
“All that hard work’s just starting to add up. Hopefully, we can continue this, but I’m definitely hungry right now, man. You know, you get one championship and all you want to do is win another one as soon as that banquet’s over. All you want to do is put all your work back into the sport and go after another one, and we’ve been doing a good job of that this year. This Cornwell Tools team is outstanding. I mean, I didn’t need to cut those reaction times today because they gave me such a great car.”
John Force Racing Brittany Force and Jack Beckman both made semifinal appearances, and in the process, each moved up a position in their respective classes.
Force’s Monster Energy dragster was once again on the hunt for track speed records during the weekend, setting the Brainerd International Raceway record not once, but twice, once in qualifying and again in eliminations. She ran 3.697 seconds at 340.82 mph in Saturday’s first qualifying session, a performance which would earn her the No. 2 qualifying spot. The two-time Top Fuel Champion then went 3.679 seconds at 341.25 mph in eliminating Shawn Langdon in Sunday’s second round.
The run during eliminations was the 10th time the Monster Energy dragster has eclipsed the 340-mph mark.
Force beat Will Smith in Round 1 of eliminations and moved into fifth place in the point standings with the Round 2 win against Shawn Langdon. In the semifinals, she ran a 3.718 second run at 337.07 mph but it wasn’t enough to get past eventual runner-up Clay Millifan’s 3.715-second run at 321.50 mph.
Force is now two points ahead of Antron Brown, 817-815, and now only 94 behind Justin Ashley for fourth.
“Overall, this was a really good weekend here in Brainard for this Monster Energy team,” said Force. “Our qualifying was pretty solid. We qualified No. 2 for race day. We had three solid qualifying runs, and the one we didn’t, we were trying to push the limit to see what we could get away with. So we expected that going in the run.
“Having the confidence of solid qualifying feels really good going into race day. We had a tricky ladder, as always, and we made a semifinal-round appearance. We put some numbers on the board, including a couple track records for the Brainerd fans. Looking at race say, looking at Sunday, to go to the semis is a really good position to be. We moved up to fifth in points, and I think it’s going to carry over into Indy really well for this team, with the Countdown ahead of us.
“This is where we need to be right now. We’re finally turning a corner, we’ve done so much better this weekend than we have in previous weekends, and I’m just getting excited. I’m getting anxious and excited for this Countdown because we’re starting to figure it out and turn win lights on on race day and that’s what’s most important.”
During qualifying Saturday, Beckman’s third-round qualifying run of 3.879 seconds at 330.63 mph earned the No. 1 Qualifier spot for the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS team, their fourth of the season. Then, in the final qualifying session, the PEAK Squad easily defeated Matt Hagan to earn their third Mission #2Fast2Tasy NHRA Challenge of 2025.
The 37-time Funny Car winner dispatched Dave Richards and Dan Wilkerson in the first two rounds before coming up on the short end against Todd. Beckman’s run of 3.889 seconds at 323.81 mph wasn’t enough to get around Todd’s run of 3.863 at 334.32 mph.
Despite the early exit, Beckman moved back into second place in the point standings, now 27 ahead of Hagan and 58 ahead of Ron Capps.
“It was a good week, but it wasn’t a great weekend. The excellent part about it was qualifying No, 1 and winning the Mission Foods 2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Then, in the semis, we just got outrun by the car that, the round before, set low ET of the weekend to this point and they did what they needed to do. I think we put a hole out and it knocked the blower belt off right in the lights … but a good day.
“Our PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy is just fine. We did well in the points this weekend and we’re rolling into Indy (for the Aug. 27-Sept. 1 Cornwell Quality Parts U.S. Nationals) where we’ll earn points and a half. We’re not going to catch Austin for the regular season points deal so we just want to win in Indy. That’ll solidify second in the points before we reset the points and then here we go again.”
Next Race
The next race on the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing schedule is the Aug. 27 – Sept. 1 Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
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BRAINERD, MINN. (Aug. 17, 2025) – Austin Prock woke up determined to better his reaction time performance during today’s NHRA Mission Foods Lucas Oil Nationals and the John Force Racing Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car driver saved his best for the championship round at Brainerd International Raceway.
The reigning Funny Car Champion and current season point leader cut a .043-of-a-second reaction time against J.R. Todd, whom he finished runner-up to at this race last year. Prock went on to clock a lap of 3.907 seconds at 321.50 mph while Todd’s run went up in tire smoke. His reaction times in the first three rounds were .048, 048, and .052, giving him a four-run average of a stunning .047.
“I was consistent throughout qualifying but I was about a hundredth slower than I wanted to be, or where I felt like I needed to be,” said Prock. So, this morning I woke up and just all the stars aligned for this Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS team. I got after it and attacked the Christmas Tree and had probably one of my best driving performances leaving the starting line in either category, Top Fuel or Funny Car. That definitely makes me feel good, especially going into the U.S Nationals.
After qualifying second, Prock tripped the win light in the first three rounds of Sunday’s competition under cool and cloudy skies, putting Jim Campbell, Matt Hagan, and Chad Green on the trailer before facing Todd in the final.
It was Prock’s sixth win, and second straight, in 13 races this season and 14th in his brief 33-race Funny Car career. The Prock Rocket heads into the Aug. 27-Sept. 1 Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park with a dominating 242-point ahead of John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman.
“I think it was a little bit of everything, you know, getting (Cornwell Tools crew members) Nate Hill and Sam Stuckmeyer their first Brainerd win,” said Prock when asked about the intensity in his voice during his post-race interview at the top end of the track. “Nate’s attempted this race 13 times, and he’s been with my dad the entire time and he’s never got it done. Last year, I gave it away. And this year, you know, to race the same driver and get on the other end of the stick, obviously felt good. But I was focused on myself today. I went out there and I executed.
“All that hard work’s just starting to add up. Hopefully, we can continue this, but I’m definitely hungry right now, man. You know, you get one championship and all you want to do is win another one as soon as that banquet’s over. All you want to do is put all your work back into the sport and go after another one, and we’ve been doing a good job of that this year. This Cornwell Tools team is outstanding. I mean, I didn’t need to cut those reaction times today because they gave me such a great car.”
John Force Racing Brittany Force and Jack Beckman both made semifinal appearances, and in the process, each moved up a position in their respective classes.
Force’s Monster Energy dragster was once again on the hunt for track speed records during the weekend, setting the Brainerd International Raceway record not once, but twice, once in qualifying and again in eliminations. She ran 3.697 seconds at 340.82 mph in Saturday’s first qualifying session, a performance which would earn her the No. 2 qualifying spot. The two-time Top Fuel Champion then went 3.679 seconds at 341.25 mph in eliminating Shawn Langdon in Sunday’s second round.
The run during eliminations was the 10th time the Monster Energy dragster has eclipsed the 340-mph mark.
Force beat Will Smith in Round 1 of eliminations and moved into fifth place in the point standings with the Round 2 win against Shawn Langdon. In the semifinals, she ran a 3.718 second run at 337.07 mph but it wasn’t enough to get past eventual runner-up Clay Millifan’s 3.715-second run at 321.50 mph.
Force is now two points ahead of Antron Brown, 817-815, and now only 94 behind Justin Ashley for fourth.
“Overall, this was a really good weekend here in Brainard for this Monster Energy team,” said Force. “Our qualifying was pretty solid. We qualified No. 2 for race day. We had three solid qualifying runs, and the one we didn’t, we were trying to push the limit to see what we could get away with. So we expected that going in the run.
“Having the confidence of solid qualifying feels really good going into race day. We had a tricky ladder, as always, and we made a semifinal-round appearance. We put some numbers on the board, including a couple track records for the Brainerd fans. Looking at race say, looking at Sunday, to go to the semis is a really good position to be. We moved up to fifth in points, and I think it’s going to carry over into Indy really well for this team, with the Countdown ahead of us.
“This is where we need to be right now. We’re finally turning a corner, we’ve done so much better this weekend than we have in previous weekends, and I’m just getting excited. I’m getting anxious and excited for this Countdown because we’re starting to figure it out and turn win lights on on race day and that’s what’s most important.”
During qualifying Saturday, Beckman’s third-round qualifying run of 3.879 seconds at 330.63 mph earned the No. 1 Qualifier spot for the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS team, their fourth of the season. Then, in the final qualifying session, the PEAK Squad easily defeated Matt Hagan to earn their third Mission #2Fast2Tasy NHRA Challenge of 2025.
The 37-time Funny Car winner dispatched Dave Richards and Dan Wilkerson in the first two rounds before coming up on the short end against Todd. Beckman’s run of 3.889 seconds at 323.81 mph wasn’t enough to get around Todd’s run of 3.863 at 334.32 mph.
Despite the early exit, Beckman moved back into second place in the point standings, now 27 ahead of Hagan and 58 ahead of Ron Capps.
“It was a good week, but it wasn’t a great weekend. The excellent part about it was qualifying No, 1 and winning the Mission Foods 2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Then, in the semis, we just got outrun by the car that, the round before, set low ET of the weekend to this point and they did what they needed to do. I think we put a hole out and it knocked the blower belt off right in the lights … but a good day.
“Our PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy is just fine. We did well in the points this weekend and we’re rolling into Indy (for the Aug. 27-Sept. 1 Cornwell Quality Parts U.S. Nationals) where we’ll earn points and a half. We’re not going to catch Austin for the regular season points deal so we just want to win in Indy. That’ll solidify second in the points before we reset the points and then here we go again.”
Next Race
The next race on the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing schedule is the Aug. 27 – Sept. 1 Cornwell Quality Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
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Continue reading...
