Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 26, 2025) – Austin Prock used his starting line skill to get his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS to the finish line ahead of rookie Spencer Hyde in what otherwise would have been a dead heat Saturday to win the Mission Foods 2Fast/2Tasty Challenge, a prelude to Sunday’s 15th NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at ZMax Dragway.
The runaway winner of last year’s 2Fast/2Tasty championship, Prock used a .058 of a second reaction time to keep Hyde’s Ford at bay in Saturday’s four-across final, winning by .033 of a second even though both cars stopped the timers in 3.949 seconds. Paul Lee and Matt Hagan were third and fourth, respectively.
“Last year we figured out how important these Mission Challenge points are and how many points you can actually earn,” Prock said. “I think we went into the Countdown with 24 points, almost two rounds of competition. So that felt really good. I really wanted to win today. I felt like we had a shot at doing it. I’ve been driving good all weekend and we were able to get the job done as a team.”
The reigning World Champion and NHRA top speed record holder (341.68 mph) will start Sunday’s feature from the No. 2 qualifying position after posting a best of 3.844 seconds at 336.49 miles per hour on Friday.
“Both runs today (a 3.939 followed by the aforementioned 3.949), the car went down the racetrack and made nice, clean runs in hotter conditions, which we’re probably going to see tomorrow, so that felt good,” said the man who last year broke boss and mentor John Force’s single season record when he qualified No. 1 at 15 of 20 events.
“The boys are working hard,” he said, a reference to a Cornwell crew led by his dad Jimmy, his brother Thomas and Nate Hildahl. “Like I’ve been saying all year, this car’s been giving us grief, but they’re doing their homework and it’s going up and down the racetrack right now. So far, I’ve been good behind the wheel (and) if we can do that three times tomorrow, we might be holding the gold man (the “Wally” winner’s trophy).
The 29-year-old will oppose Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon and Buddy Hull in Sunday’s opening round in his bid to win his second four-across race this month and become the first driver to win the Charlotte 4-Wide in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. He won the race in 2023 in his final season driving the John Force Racing dragster in which he earned NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year recognition in 2019.
Prock’s John Force Racing teammates, both driving cars backed this week by Charlotte-based HendrickCars.com, also secured favorable starting positions. Jack Beckman and a PEAK Squad led by Daniel Hood, Chris Cunningham and Tim Fabrisi, earned the No. 5 position and will be in a first-round quad that includes Hyde, Chad Green and Alexis DeJoria.
“This morning’s run we pushed a little too hard and smoked the tires,” Beckman said. “But that’s fine because sometimes you have to see where that line is. Looking at the time slip from Q4, and we went 3.97 but the car put a cylinder out before 600 feet.
“Depending on what the temperature is tomorrow, we know we’ve got good data,” said the 36-time Funny Car winner. “The crew chiefs will decide if they want to pull the fuel flow back or give it a little bit more clutch to balance out the fuel and load demand. I think we’re going to be in great shape for race day.”
Brittany Force, who raced to a jaw-dropping speed on Friday, breaking her own NHRA national record and becoming the first to exceed 340 mph in a dragster, earned the No. 3 position in Top Fuel at 3.667 seconds. The 2016 Charlotte 4-Wide winner will start her latest title bid in a quad with Justin Ashley, Spencer Massey and Todd Paton.
“Overall, a good start to our weekend,” Brittany said of her qualifying effort. “We struggled a little bit (in the Saturday heat), but we ran 341.59 on Friday night and we’re really proud of that. We’re looking forward to race day. It’s four-wide, so anything is possible. We’re qualified third and we’re looking to turn some win lights on and go rounds tomorrow.”
