Photo Credit: Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
READING, Pa. (Sept. 14, 2024) – Austin Prock will start the Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS from the No. 1 qualifying position for the 11th time in 15 races Sunday when he carries a 46-point advantage into the first round of the 39th Pep Boys Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the opening event in the Mission Foods Series’ Countdown to the Championship.
Prock’s Friday evening time of 3.849 seconds at a career best speed of 338.43 miles per hour withstood every challenge thrown at it in two final qualifying sessions on Saturday.
“It’s pretty nuts when you think about it,” Prock said of his No. 1 starts this year and the possibility of breaking the Funny Car record of 13 set in 1996 by boss and mentor John Force. “We haven’t done it yet, but if everything works out, it would be incredible.
“But, honestly, it’s all about the guys who give me an outstanding car every run,” said the 29-year-old who earned NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 2019 as a Top Fuel driver. “All I can do is not screw up in qualifying and I’ve been doing alright with that so far.”
Teammate Jack Beckman, driving the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy Camaro for 16-time Funny Car World Champion John Force, will start from the No. 3 position, which sets up the potential for an all-JFR final round.
Beckman, who won this race in 2019, earned qualifying bonus points in every round and, after a lengthy track clean-up, was quicker than everyone in Q3 in conditions that likely will mimic the mid-rounds on Sunday.
“I was on the starting line during that cleanup,” Beckman said. “Thank you to the fans and thank you to NHRA and the track crew for spending the time necessary to give the fans in the stands the best possible show. After that, for us to go out there and set low ET of the round (3.907 seconds) means that they did everything right.”
The 2012 World Champion continued to marvel at the performance of the car in which Force won two times this year before his crash.
“This hot rod? Oh, my God. John’s car. Holy moly. Thank you, John. Thank you, PEAK. Thank you, Chevy. We know we’re battling another Chevy and we know there are some tough Mopars and Fords out there as well,” said the 33-time Funny Car winner, “(but) I like our chances.”
A disappointed Brittany Force failed to improve in the final two sessions at the wheel of her track record-holding Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster and, as the No. 11 qualifier, will face Steve Torrence in Sunday’s opening round. If there is a silver lining for the two-time World Champion, it is that she has beaten Torrence the two other times she has raced him in an opening round.
Furthermore, after qualifying 12th here in 2016, the 16-time tour winner raced her way to the final round before losing to Antron Brown.
“We are going to throw everything we have at it,” Force said. “We have nothing to lose. First round is at 10:30 a.m. and track conditions will be quite cooler. We will be running on a 110-degree track and we have many killer runs in those exact conditions from previous years. We plan to turn things around on race day.”
-www.johnforceracing.com-
