Austin Prock Closing in on Funny Car Championship
Three weeks after a mechanical issue took him out of contention in the Texas Fall Nationals, Austin Prock resumes his drive to drag racing history this week when he sends the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS after the Funny Car Championship in the 24th NHRA Nevada Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The 29-year-old Funny Car rookie will roll to the starting line for Friday’s first qualifying session with a 147-point lead over the field. The driver closest to him in the standings is John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman, who has been medically cleared to compete after withdrawing from the Texas Fall Nationals with vertigo-like symptoms.
“I’m ready to get back after it in the Cornwell Tools Camaro,” Prock said. “It’s been a long few off weekends (since the Dallas loss) and I’m ready to stand on the gas again. Conditions look great for some great racing (and) we’re looking for another solid weekend.”
“Solid” has been the operative word for the Cornwell Camaro team since it debuted with a pre-season victory in the inaugural PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton, Fla. After a throw-away effort in the rain-plagued Winternationals at Pomona, Calif., last March, Prock has been the Funny Car point leader after the last 12 races thanks to a best-of-season seven wins, one of them in the world’s most prestigious single event, the Labor Day U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, Ind.
Although the championship remains his priority, Prock will roll onto the concrete-and-asphalt at LVMS for four qualifying rounds with a chance to re-write a page of Funny Car history. He has set the qualifying pace at 13 of 18 races this year, tying the single season record set by boss and mentor John Force 28 years ago.
If Vegas was handicapping his chances of eclipsing that mark, they would be off the board considering the fact that he is driving the Chevy that qualified No. 1 at this race the last two years when a now medically sidelined Robert Hight was in the seat.
It’s virtually the same car, prepared by the same Jimmy Prock-led crew in which Hight won last year before handing the reins to his you protege, his crew chief’s son, whose previous experience was in Top Fuel dragsters, quarter midgets and sprint cars.
“We’re not treating this race any different than any other one,” Prock said. “We want to go out there and run low E.T. evert round and we want to win every race. If you’re competitive, and a racer, that’s what you expect and I believe you can do that. We want to do good for JFR; we want to do good for Robert and we want to do good for Cornwell and all our other great partners.”
Owner of the season’s quickest elapsed time at 3.813 seconds, Prock believes he is more motivated than at any time in his racing career in the knowledge that he is chasing history with his family. In addition to his dad, who makes the tuning decisions on the black-and-blue Camaro, brother Thomas is a key member of a brain trust that also includes Nate Hildahl.
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