In an event in which his grandfather was the Funny Car runner-up to Don “the Snake” Prudhomme in 1975, Austin Prock and his Cornwell Tools crew mates begin defense of their Mission Foods Championship this week in the 56th annual NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
Coming off a stellar performance in last month’s pre-season exhibition at Bradenton, Fla., during which he strong-armed the Cornwell Tools “Prock Rocket” Chevy to the quickest elapsed time in history at 3.791 seconds, the 29-year-old this year is focused on becoming just the second Funny Car driver in the last 23 years to win back-to-back titles.
That quest begins this week in an event in which John Force Racing drivers have won 16 times and in which Prock was runner-up one year ago after qualifying No. 1 and lowering the track record to its current 3.820 seconds.
“I’m looking forward to starting the NHRA season with Cornwell Tools, HendrickCars.com and Chevrolet,” said the man who last year broke boss and mentor John Force’s 28-year-old single season record when he qualified No. 1 in 15 of 20 events on the way to winning the Mission Foods 2Fast/2Tasty Challenge championship, the regular season championship and the six-race Countdown.
“Bradenton was great to get the blood and mind set flowing back into that competitive edge,” he said. “We had a great outing there and are hoping to continue that in Gainesville (where) we had an outstanding start last year, making it to the finals. Hopefully we can be one spot better this year.”
Although John Force Racing president Robert Hight remains the official NHRA Funny Car record holder at 3.793 seconds, a mark he established eight years ago in a similar JFR Chevrolet, Prock’s performance in last month’s PRO Superstar Shootout was a reminder that records are made to be broken.
In a car prepared by his crew chief, dad (Jimmy) with input from his brother Thomas and Nate Hildahl, the former quarter midget and sprint car standout last year became the fourth different JFR driver (after Force, Hight and Tony Pedregon) to win as many as eight races in a season.
That bounty included three wins during the Countdown and a jaw-dropping, record-setting 341.68 mph speed at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in the season-ending In-N-Out Burger Finals.
In becoming the first driver to break the 340-mph barrier in the sport’s primary series, Prock eclipsed the official NHRA Top Fuel speed record of 338.94 mph set by JFR teammate Brittany Force in her Monster Energy dragster.
The 2019 NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year at the wheel of a JFR Top Fuel dragster in which he won four times in three full seasons, Prock is the only team driver to have won races in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes.
Tom Prock, the champ’s grandfather, was runner-up in three of the eight races that comprised the NHRA tour in 1975, losing to Prudhomme at Gainesville and Montreal, Canada, and to the late “Jungle Jim” Liberman at Englishtown, N.J.
This story was originally published on March 5, 2025. 
