Having demonstrated his mastery of four-wide racing with back-to-back victories at Las Vegas and Charlotte, Austin Prock narrows his field of vision this week as the Mission Foods tour returns to traditional two-by-two competition in the 25th renewal of the NHRA Route 66 Nationals.
The reigning series champion and current point leader, Prock, hopes to reverse his fortunes at Route 66 Raceway, where he and his 340-mile-an-hour Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS were ousted in the second round a year ago in an event in which boss and mentor John Force was runner-up.
Significantly, this is the only NHRA tour event in which the 29-year-old fourth generation racer has not reached the semifinals since first he slid into the seat of the car previously driven by three-time world champion Robert Hight, who set the current track records (3.831 seconds, 335.07 miles per hour) the last time he drove here in 2023.
“Excited to get to Chicago,” Prock gushed. “It’s always great spending time with the people at PEAK and OWI (Old World Industries). It’s their home race.”
After a somewhat rocky start in which he was ousted in the first round in two of the first three races, the resilient Prock seems to have regained the form that last year carried him to a NHRA record-setting 15 No. 1 qualifying performances and eight victories.
“We’re coming off a good run of races, winning back-to-back at the 4-Wides in Vegas and Charlotte, and we want to maintain that competitive edge,” he said. “To get the job done in Chi-town would be a big deal.”
Rookie of the Year in 2019, when he was driving a John Force Racing dragster, one in which he won four times, Prock has found a home at the wheel of the Cornwell Chevrolet tuned by a crew chief consortium comprised of his dad Jimmy, his brother Thomas and Nate Hildahl.
With that trio doing the prep work, Prock has won 10 times in his last 23 starts while compiling a 59-13 record in eliminations.
Owner of the fastest speed ever achieved on a dragstrip, a national record-setting 341.68 miles per hour last fall at Pomona, Calif., the former quarter-midget and sprint car driver also owns the quickest Funny Car time ever, an unofficial 3.791 he recorded during testing last February at Bradenton, Fla.
This story was originally published on May 15, 2025. 
