| READING, Pa. (Sept. 15, 2024) – After Jack Nicklaus won the 1965 Masters in dominating fashion, Hall of Fame golf great Bobby Jones famously observed that “he plays a game with which I’m not familiar.” Funny Car rivals of young Austin Prock are beginning to share that sentiment after the 29-year-old drove the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to victory in Sunday’s 39th Pep Boys Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, beating teammate “Fast Jack” Beckman in an all-John Force Racing final round. Prock, who has started 11 of 15 races this season from the No. 1 qualifying position, won in 3.896 seconds at a finish line speed of 332.51 miles per hour. Beckman, driving the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro in relief of Force, trailed in 3.951 seconds at 330.88 mph. For Prock, it was his sixth win in 15 races this season, his second in succession, and it enabled him to open a commanding 86-point lead after the first race in the Mission Foods Countdown to the Championship. He’ll be heavily favored when qualifying begins this Friday for the 16th NHRA Carolina Nationals at Charlotte, N.C. “It feels amazing,” Prock said of the win. “It’s great to rack up some points and build a bit of a gap over second place again, especially after losing about 300 points (in the points adjustment that precedes the playoffs) This is exactly how you want to start the Countdown. We were the No. 1 qualifier, picked up points almost every round (of qualifying) and the car was flying today. “To win (the championship) we just have to do what we’ve been doing all year long,” said the grandson of ‘70s era Funny Car driver Tom Prock. “We have to execute exactly how we have all season long. We’re racing ‘lights out’ right now and I feel like we’re consistently making the best runs we’re capable of making.” “You couldn’t script it any better,” said assistant crew chief Nate Hildahl of Sunday’s win. “We’re going to keep pushing and maybe we’ll even tie (or eclipse) John Force’s all-time record of pole starts (13).” Beckman, who had been out of the sport for more than three years and was working as an elevator repairman when Force crashed heavily at Richmond, Va., on June 23, quickly has acclimated himself to the cockpit of the aqua blue Chevy. He reached the quarterfinals in his first start, the semifinals in his second two weeks ago at Indianapolis, Ind., and advanced to the final on Sunday. Obviously, there’s only one more rung on that ladder. As Force’s surrogate, by NHRA rule Beckman can earn points on the 16-time champion’s behalf in a maximum of eight races. His performance Sunday moved him and Force from sixth to third in the driver standings behind only Prock and Reading semifinalist Bob Tasca III. “If we want to win the championship, Austin is the target,” Beckman said. “We can’t spot him (points) every race and expect to win it but they did everything right this weekend. That car was the class of the field. “Our PEAK Chevy went down the track top three every run in qualifying (but) we had two elimination rounds where it didn’t do what we asked it to,” said the 33-time pro tour winner, “but we got eight total runs (for the weekend) and the crew chiefs are smart enough to be able to look at that and figure out what the car is wanting.” The Prock-Beckman shootout marked the 54th time JFR teammates have opposed one another in the final round of an NHRA tour event. It was the second such occurrence this year, following on the heels of Force’s win over Prock in the final at the NHRA New England Nationals at Epping, N.H., on June 2. Prock’s Sunday victory came just two years after he won the same race at the wheel of a JFR Top Fuel dragster, but this win light was significantly more meaningful insomuch as he celebrated in the winners’ circle with a crew that includes dad Jimmy and brother Thomas. It was the third straight Maple Grove win for the Cornwell Camaro team following on the heels of 2022 and 2023 victories by three-time World Champion Robert Hight, who is sitting out the season for medical reasons. For Brittany Force and the Monster Energy Chevy dragster, it was one of those throwaway weekends when the required elements just weren’t in sync. Fortunately, the two-time World Champion won’t have long to ponder the “what ifs” insomuch as she and her veteran crew will be back on a racetrack this Friday for the start of qualifying for the 16th NHRA Carolina Nationals in Charlotte. “We came into Reading with a lot of confidence after some solid runs in qualifying but unfortunately, the Monster Energy team’s day ended earlier than we had hoped against (four-time series champion) Steve Torrence,” she said. “The car went up in smoke (losing traction) right at the hit (of the throttle),” she recounted. “I pedaled it a few times (trying to regain traction) but, on my last pedal I lost power and Steve drove around us. It’s tough, especially knowing how well we’ve done here in the past, but we’re not going to let this get us down. We’ve got a strong team and a lot of good data from the weekend to work with. We are staying positive. “Charlotte is up next and that’s always been one of my favorite places to races,” said the 16-time tour winner. “We’re going to regroup, bring everything we’ve got and aim for that win in our HendrickCars.com dragster.” |
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