Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 23, 2025) – Since sliding into the seat of the Cornwell Tools/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet SS for the first time at the start of the 2024 season, Austin Prock has been on a record-setting binge he hopes to sustain this week when he competes in the 15th renewal of the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at ZMax Dragway.
A victory two weeks ago at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his first of the new season but his ninth in his last 22 NHRA starts, made the 29-year-old the first to win four-across in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories.
This week, he’ll try to further enhance his resume by becoming the first to win in both categories at the same four-wide event, an achievement made possible by his 2023 Top Fuel victory in the Charlotte 4-Wide in his final season at the wheel of a John Force Racing dragster.
“Ready to get to Charlotte,” beamed the man who last year broke boss and mentor John Force’s 28-year-old single season record when he qualified his hot rod Chevy No. 1 at 15 of the 20 events in the NHRA’s Mission Foods Series.
“I love the area, and the track is one of the nicest we go to,” said the 2019 NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year. “On top of that, it’s HendrickCars.com country. To get a win and have Mr. H (Charlotte businessman and NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick) out at the track would be extra special.
“We’re looking forward to getting started, especially coming off a win two weekends ago,” said the man who last fall became the first to break 340 miles per hour (341.68 mph), a barrier once believed to be beyond reach.
The great grandson of Jim Prock, who raced in the Indianapolis 500, and grandson of Tom Prock, a standout Funny Car driver in the 1970s, the younger Prock tried his hand at oval racing while waiting for his opportunity in a drag racing discipline in which his dad, Jimmy, has excelled as a crew chief.
At the age of 14, he made his first competitive appearance on an oval a memorable one when he won a heat race and the feature at the Indianapolis Speedrome in a midget prepared by his brother, Thomas. Two years later, he was Rookie of the Year in the STARS National Midget Series before graduating to a sprint car he and his brother raced out of Tony Stewart’s shop.
Nevertheless, drag racing with his dad and brother always was the goal, one ultimately realized with Force’s help and blessing.
“I’m so blessed to have John Force in my corner,” Prock said. “He loves the sport and has built a dynasty off of family racing and he gets to watch that happen with my family, too, under the same roof.
“He’s given us an outstanding facility to race out of (in Brownsburg, Ind.),” said the 13-time NHRA tour winner. “He just wants to see win lights and have fun. He knows the love I have for this sport and the love I have for Funny Cars and I’m glad to have him in my corner.”
