Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (April 9, 2025) – Still seeking the consistency that powered him and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS to the 2024 Mission Foods championship, Austin Prock broadens the search parameters this week when the NHRA pro tour goes four-wide at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track on which he was dominant a year ago.
Driving the quickest, fastest, and for the moment, one of the most unpredictable Funny Cars on the planet, the 29-year-old is pursuing history in an event in which he was runner-up to Bob Tasca III just one year ago. Should he advance a step further this Sunday, he would become the first to win four-wide events in both the Funny Car and Top Fuel divisions.
He laid the groundwork for that opportunity when he drove a John Force Racing Top Fuel dragster to victory in the 4-Wide Nationals at Charlotte, N.C., in 2023, his final season at the wheel of one of the “long cars” in which he earned NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 2019.
Although he won four times in Top Fuel and finished as high as No. 3 in points (2022), he didn’t really find his niche until he climbed into the Funny Car prepared by a Cornwell crew anchored by his dad, Jimmy, his brother, Thomas, and Nate Hildahl.
En route to the 2024 championship, he became the first to break the 340 mile per hour barrier in the sport’s primary series while also shattering the single season record set by boss and mentor John Force by qualifying No. 1 at 15 of 20 events. That’s the kind of consistency he and his team are pursuing once again with a completely new performance package developed during the off season.
“We’re always pushing to make things better,” said the former quarter midget and sprint car standout. “My dad and this team have done things to try and make the car better and I know we’re on the right track.”
Indeed, despite the fact that he has been ousted in the first round in two of three starts this year and has yet to reach the winners’ circle, he also has a No. 1 start to his credit (Pomona, Calif.), a final round appearance (Phoenix), and in pre-season testing at Bradenton, Fla., a 3.791 second run that was .002 under the official NHRA record set by his predecessor in the Cornwell Chevy, Robert Hight.
“I always love going to Vegas,” he said. “We had a very competitive car there both races last year (winning last fall’s Nevada Nationals in dominating fashion), so I’m hoping we can do the same and get our first Wally of the year on Sunday.
“We’ve got some exciting deals happening with GRP (Graham Rahal Performance) being the primary sponsor on both Jack (Beckman) and Brttany’s cars,” he continued. “And we’re excited to have Graham and his team on board with all our cars for the rest of the season.”
GRP offers a wide range of services, from routine maintenance to full engine builds, dyno tuning, extreme performance upgrades and custom, in-house fabrication. It also has become one of the “go to” sites for exotic and high-performance vehicle sales.
