Photo Courtesy: Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
SONOMA, Calif. (July 27, 2024) – After enduring “one of those days” on Friday, Funny Car point leader Austin Prock and the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro regained their mojo Saturday, surging from No. 16 to No. 4 in qualifying for the 36th Sonoma Nationals and, in so doing, winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge for the fifth straight time.
After failing to reach the Sonoma Raceway finish line under power on either of his Friday qualifying attempts, Prock was second quickest in both sessions Saturday with times of 3.872 and 3.897 seconds and, as a result, will face second generation pro Steven Densham in Sunday’s first round.
“It’s all due to these guys,” Prock said of the turnaround, referring to a Cornwell crew anchored by his dad Jimmy and his brother Thomas. “Every one of these Cornwell Tools guys is just an absolute animal and I’m really proud to be driving their race car. Thank you, John Force, Robert Hight and everyone at John Force Racing.”
The elder Prock, who tuned Hight to three championships and Force to one, confirmed that he and his team were trying some different things on Friday and they obviously didn’t work.
“Well, yeah, that was tough,” he said of Friday’s two shutoff runs, “but, pretty much we just put it back like the final (round) in Seattle, or close enough, and it came pretty close to repeating (that performance, a 3.875).”
While Prock was returning to form, teammate Brittany Force went the opposite direction on Saturday with times of 3.962 and 4.948 from her Monster Energy Chevy dragster.
Nevertheless, the two-time Top Fuel World Champion will start Sunday from the No. 3 position with a critical first round match against Josh Hart, the driver trying to supplant her from the No. 10 spot in the standings.
“We were trying to push it and it just didn’t hold,” said the 38-year-old daughter of sidelined Funny Car champion John Force. “We need to go rounds on Sunday. We need to make some progress on race day so we can move up in the points and earn our place in the Countdown.
“In the last few races, we have seen a big move in our qualifying (performance),” said the 16-time tour winner and former Rookie-of-the-Year. “We are qualified third and our goal was to be Top 5, so we are right where we need to be. Now all we need to do is turn on some win lights.”
