After a bit of a misstep at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals, reigning Funny Car World Champion Austin Prock is anxious to re-establish the potency of his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS this week when he sends the Jimmy Prock-tuned Chevy after its fourth straight victory in the Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park.
“We’re excited to get to the West Coast,” said the 29-year-old phenom who won eight times last season as a Funny Car rookie. “It’ll be nice to have a three-race stretch (with subsequent events in Pomona, Calif., and Las Vegas, Nev.), hopefully with no rain! We’re ready for some redemption in this Cornwell Tools Chevy. I know this team will come out swinging.
“Last year, Phoenix was one for the books,” recalled the former JFR crewman. “John (Force) won the make-up final from the Winternationals on Saturday; we won the Phoenix event (on Sunday), and it was my dad’s 100th win as a crew chief.”
Before the younger Prock got his turn behind the wheel of the world’s fastest Chevy (the official NHRA record holder for speed at 341.28 miles per hour), Robert Hight won Phoenix for the same team in 2022 and 2023.
Although he will start the qualifying process No. 16 in the Mission Foods driver standings, Prock is excited about the off-season changes made to his Chevy by a crew on which brother Thomas also is a key player.
“There’s always room to improve,” said the man who, in 2019, was named the NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year while driving a JFR Top Fuel dragster. “The way I’ve always looked at it, if you lose that hunger and intensity to do better, that’s the sign to hang it up.
“We’re always pushing to innovate and make things better,” he continued. “Coming to Phoenix, we have a totally different package than we did last year. My dad and this team have done things to try and make the car better and we’re going in the right direction. It’s going to be exciting to go out there and try to defend our title. We’ve got the car and the opportunity to try and go back-to-back.”
Despite his troubles in Gainesville, where a rear-end failure relegated him to the No. 15 starting spot, precipitating a first-round loss, Florida was not a total loss for Prock and his crew mates.
In the pre-season PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton, Fla., he directed the potent Chevy through the 1,000-foot course in 3.791 seconds, quickest time in drag racing history and just .002 off the official NHRA record set by Hight in 2017.
This story was originally published on March 19, 2025. 
