BRAINERD, Minn. (August 14, 2024) – Austin Prock loves his job so much that, unlike the majority of Americans, he hates weekends off. He’d rather work straight through. No breaks.
That’s why being idle the last two weeks has been particularly agonizing for the 28-year-old driver of the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS, especially since his last racing memory is of an incredibly narrow .001 of a second loss to Bob Tasca III in the semifinals of the Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma, Calif.
He hopes to take the first step toward putting that disappointment behind him by driving the blue-and-black Cornwell Camaro to the No. 1 qualifying position for the ninth time in 13 races with the start of this week’s 42nd Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
“We have the Countdown coming up in two more races,” said the runaway Funny Car point leader. “In a perfect world, I’d like to race this thing every day. You get in rhythm and when you have a break (in the schedule), you lose a little of that. I’m going to hopefully get back into it without too much trouble.”
By all appearances, the third generation drag racer hasn’t had trouble with much of anything in his first season subbing for John Force Racing president Robert Hight in the car that finished second in points the last two seasons.
In his first race in a Funny Car, Prock won the pre-season PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton, Fla. Three weeks later, he was the No. 1 qualifier in the Mission Foods series opener at Gainesville, Fla.
Since then, he’s won four times in a car prepared by his dad Jimmy, his brother Thomas, and a veteran crew that sent Hight to three championships and the current NHRA records for time (3.793 seconds) and speed (339.87 mph), the former set at BIR on Aug. 18, 2017.
“I love racing at BIR,” said the man whose straight-line career began at the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster. “Even though we didn’t have much success (in three Top Fuel starts), I’m excited to see what it’s all about in a Funny Car. We are hoping to turn on a few more win lights than we did in Sonoma.”
Before that happens, though, the former oval track racer will have a chance to reverse the Sonoma outcome with Tasca thanks to the déjà vu aspect of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in which he is seeking an unprecedented sixth consecutive victory. That Sonoma rematch will take place during Saturday’s first qualifying session.
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LUCAS OIL NATIONALS SCHEDULE
Friday, August 16
Nitro qualifying, session #1 at 4:30 p.m., CDT; session #2 at 6:45 p.m., CDT
Saturday, August 17
Top Fuel qualifying session #3 and first round of Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, Brittany Force vs. Antron Brown and Tony Stewart vs. Ron August, 12:30 p.m., CDT
Funny Car qualifying, session #3 and first round of Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, Austin Prock vs. Bob Tasca III and Ron Capps vs. Matt Hagan, 1:05 p.m., 1 CDT
Top Fuel qualifying, session #4 and final round of #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, 3 p.m., CDT
Funny Car qualifying, session #4 and final round of #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, 3:30 p.m., CDT
Sunday, August 18
First round eliminations, 10:30 a.m., CDT
JFR ON FS1 and FOX Broadcast Network
Friday, August 16
Qualifying show #1, 8-9:30 p.m., EDT, on FS1
Saturday, August 17
Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, 6-7 p.m., EDT, on FS1
Sunday, August 18
Qualifying wrap-up show, 1-2 p.m., EDT, on FS1
Sunday, August 18
Race coverage, 3-6 p.m., EDT, on FOX
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