Tasca Racing kicked off the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season this weekend at the historic NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, marking the competitive debut of Austin Prock behind the wheel of the PPG Nitro Mustang Dark Horse Funny Car.
The event represented the first race for the newly formed Prock-led program at Tasca Racing, with chief Jimmy Prock leading the team alongside driver Austin Prock.
Friday’s opening qualifying session saw Prock make his first official pass for Tasca Racing. Facing difficult track conditions that allowed only a handful of cars to reach the finish line, Prock guided the PPG Ford Mustang down the racetrack with a 4.836-second pass at 217.74 mph. The run required a quick pedal to recover from early tire shake but was enough to place the team sixth after the first session.
“The track was tricky,” said Prock. “We had the car way peeled back just trying to go A to B. Only a few cars got down the track. I had to pedal it and it recovered quickly, so that was encouraging.”
In the second qualifying session, Prock again posted a strong start with a 0.073 reaction time and a 0.901-second 60-foot time before the car lost traction and drove into tire smoke. The team lifted early and coasted to a 6.428-second run at 109.76 mph, dropping them to 12th in the field heading into Saturday.
Saturday’s third session brought another early attempt to improve, with Prock leaving the line with his best reaction time of the weekend at 0.067 seconds. The PPG Mustang showed promise early before striking the tires around 200 feet into the run. After a quick pedal attempt, the car’s safety system shut the engine down, resulting in a 5.493-second pass at 156.35 mph.
With one final opportunity remaining in Q4, an oil-down on the starting line complicated the situation. Teams were forced to adjust their staging position as the surface continued to present challenges. When Prock launched, the car immediately lost traction and spun the tires, resulting in a 7.562-second run at 132.74 mph.
The run left Tasca Racing outside the top 16 and unable to qualify for Sunday eliminations.
“It stinks, but sometimes racing goes this way,” said Prock. “Everything that could go wrong this weekend seemed to happen. But we’re not discouraged. When my dad went to Don Schumacher Racing with Jack Beckman, they didn’t qualify at their first race either and then they won the next three. That’s our plan now.” Despite the early setback, the team remains confident in the strength of the new Tasca Racing lineup as the season continues. With Prock behind the wheel and Jimmy Prock calling the shots, the team will now shift its focus to Phoenix, the next stop on the NHRA schedule as they continue developing the PPG Nitro Mustang Dark Horse Funny Car.
This story was originally published on March 10, 2026. 
