In a town in which his great grandfather raced in the Indy 500, in which his grandfather reached the Funny Car semifinals at the 1977 U.S. Nationals and in which his dad tuned Robert Hight to a trio of Labor Day victories, Austin Prock hopes to add to the family legacy this week at the wheel of the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS.
The 29-year-old, who took a circular path to a straight-line career, already has clinched the No. 1 starting spot in the NHRA’s upcoming Countdown to the Championship and, as a result, will be the Funny Car favorite when pro qualifying begins Friday in the 70th renewal of the world’s biggest drag race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Nevertheless, the winner of the pre-season PRO Superstar Shootout is coming off what he characterized as the worst driving performance of his career during the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn., where he suffered a rare starting line lapse that resulted in a .118 reaction time and a second round loss.
Rivals don’t expect the former quarter midget, sprint car and Top Fuel driver to stumble in a such fashion moving forward, however. Statistically, he has been one of the best in the sport at the starting line. In 38 competitive rounds leading up to his Brainerd elimination, in fact, the professionally trained chef’s average reaction time was .064; his best was .043, his worst .090.
“I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel,” Prock said. “It’s been good to reset after a tough weekend and I’m ready to get back on track. We had a great test session and have been hard at it to make sure we’re prepared to win! We would love to put Team Chevy (with Top Fuel teammate Brittany Force) in the winners’ circle at our biggest event of the year.”
A four-time Mission Foods tour winner this year and the No. 1 qualifier in nine of 13 events, Prock is driving a Cornwell Camaro widely-known as the “Prock Rocket” insomuch as it is driven by a Prock and prepared by crew anchored by two others – dad Jimmy and brother Thomas.
This story was originally published on August 28, 2024. 
