Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
MOHNTON, PA. (Sept. 13, 2025) – Each of John Force Racing’s championship racing teams earned lane choice for the first round of eliminations in Sunday’s NHRA Mission Foods NHRA Nationals presented by Nitro Fish at Maple Grove Raceway, the first round of the 2025 Countdown to the Championship.
Two-time NHRA Top Fuel Champion Brittany Force wheeled her Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster to a run of 3.796 seconds at 334.57 mph in Saturday’s first round of qualifying, the performance placing her eighth on the final eliminations ladder.
In Funny Car, reigning NHRA Nationals champion Austin Prock qualified second in the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS, with a best run of 3.882 seconds at 333.74 mph in Friday’s second round of qualifying. Jack Beckman’s second qualifying run Friday, a lap of 3.901 seconds sat 330.72 mph, was also his best of the weekend and landed the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS in the No. 4 position for Sunday’s eliminations. Prock and Beckman are again on opposite sides of the eliminations ladder, as they were last year when Prock came out on top.
Brittany Force, Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster
- Force’s first-round opponent will be Dan Mercier (No. 9 qualifier), who recorded a best run of 3.796 seconds at 316.67 mph.
- Force earned runner-up finishes in Top Fuel at Maple Grove Raceway in 2014 and 2016 before taking top honors in 2017. She has an 18-10 event round record.
“We’re qualified number eight, which is an okay position, but it’s not where this Monster Energy team should be going into the first race of the Countdown. But we’re going to reset because we did have some solid runs in qualifying. That ’79’ was pretty great for our team, and we earned two bonus points, so we’re going to focus on that going into race day tomorrow. It’s a new day, so we’re going to try to turn on four win lights here.”
Austin Prock, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car
- Prock’s Cornwell Tools Chevrolet will line up against Joe Morrison, who qualified 15th with a lap of 4.065 seconds at 310.41 mph, in Sunday’s first round of eliminations.
- Prock has two Maple Grove Raceway victories to his credit, capturing the Top Fuel title in 2022 (qualified fourth) and the 2024 Funny Car crown (qualified No. 1). He has a 10-2 event round record.
“We’ve put the Cornwell Tools Chevy in a good qualifying position that sets us up nicely for Sunday. We’ve had a lot of success from the second spot this year. So, looking forward to tomorrow, we made a nice clean pass the last run. We still have some bugs to work out, but that run definitely gave us some confidence going into tomorrow so I’m looking forward to it.
“I haven’t looked at the ladder yet, but I feel like we have a good opportunity to gain some runs on the competition. We’ve been chasing our tail a little bit this weekend, so we’re just trying to get this Prock Rocket dialed back to go up and down this racetrack. Typically, when we come here, the conditions are really killer. It’s usually overcast and cooler, you know, and I think the warmer temperature is just showing its face a little bit on this track. But I’m confident we can do some damage tomorrow.”
Jack Beckman, PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
- In Sunday’s first round of eliminations, the PEAK SQUAD will face Dave Richards, who qualified 13th with a best lap of 4.018 seconds at 316.67 mph.
- Beckman is a three-time Maple Grove Raceway Funny Car winner (2008/qualified 13th, 2015/qualified third, 2019/qualified third) and finished runner-up to Prock last year. He has a 23-12 event round record.
“We tested Tuesday after Indy with a race car that had zero runs on it and out of the box went 3.84 seconds at 333.59 mph. We made two more runs, tested some clutch discs. and then looked at the data. The whole intent that day was for that car to go back in the trailer as a proven backup car. But afterward we thought, ‘well, why wouldn’t we just run it during the Countdown? We got fresh pipe. Let’s just unload it in the Countdown.
“Every piece of tubing has its own personality. So, it’s up to us now to listen to this car over the next 10 or so runs in changing track and weather conditions and see what it wants. But I like what we’ve done so far. We qualified number four here, at Maple Grove. We’ve made some very representative runs and, if you look at the ladder, oh my goodness, our side is the murderer’s row. This is going to be one of those races where if we win it from the fourth position, we earned every single point that we set out to do. I can’t wait till race day. I don’t know if we’re going to be sitting in the winner’s circle but I know we’ve got as good a shot as every Funny Car out here, and I’m looking forward to that national anthem.”
Track & TV Schedules (All Times Eastern)
Final eliminations of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series NHRA Nationals are scheduled for 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 14.
Sunday’s television coverage begins Sunday, Sept. 14, at 2 p.m.
