‘Fast Jack’ Beckman Beats Teammate Austin Prock in All John Force Racing Final at In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals
A championship sundae, no matter how sweet, always is better with a cherry on top.
Newly crowned Funny Car World Champion Austin Prock and John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman applied that finishing touch Sunday at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, racing one another in the final round of the season-ending In-N-Out Burger Finals to secure their 1-2 finish in the 2024 Mission Foods driver standings.
Beckman sped to a career best time of 3.812 seconds to get his PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS to the finish line ahead of the Prock-driven Auto Club Chevy, collecting his second win for JFR in 2024 (Gateway).
After another record-shattering weekend, Prock’s blue-and-white Chevy lost traction and slowed from a track record-setting 3.804 seconds in qualifying to 5.028 seconds, denying the 29-year-old Funny Car phenom his ninth win of the year.
“It doesn’t get any higher than this,” Beckman said. “I won here at the 2019 Finals, at the 2020 Winter Nationals, and I hadn’t raced at Pomona since then. Look, winning at Pomona, you get double the shots of anywhere else. I raced Super Comp here for 20-something years and was fortunate enough to win it twice. It’s just magical at your home track.
“It’s special when it’s the Winter Nationals, when the Winter Nationals was the first race of the year,” he continued. “It’s still going to be special next year if I get to suit up for that event, but the Finals is the Finals, right? Whoever wins here gets a couple months to say, we were the baddest on race day.”
The 1-2 finish is the seventh for JFR in the 29 years in which it has fielded multiple cars but it’s the first since 2009 when Robert Hight and Ashley Force Hood occupied the top two positions. The all-JFR final was the 55th in NHRA history and the second matching the Chevies of Prock and Beckman who’ve only been competing as teammates for eight events. Prock won the first such battle to win the Pep Boys Nationals at Reading, Pa., two months ago.
While Prock and Beckman were dominating Funny Car, two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force also was closing the season with a flourish, qualifying her Monster Energy Chevy dragster No. 1 for the fifth time in the last seven events, reaching the semifinals and, after starting the Countdown in ninth place, finishing fifth in the driver standings.
Eighth when racing started Friday, the 38-year-old California native moved to seventh after the qualifying rounds before leapfrogging both Clay Millican and Steve Torrence on Sunday.
“It was definitely a unique season for this Monster Energy, Chevrolet, HendrickCars.com, GHX, Cornwell Tools team,” Brittany said. “It was difficult at the start, but we really turned things around in the Countdown and ended with a strong finish.
“To win Las Vegas, to be the No. 1 qualifier in Vegas and win the event, then come here and make a semifinal round appearance and end up fifth in points, that’s something I’m very proud of. These guys have worked incredibly hard all season long. They never gave up. They kept fighting. They kept digging. They kept pushing. David Grubnic and John Collins are two of the baddest co-crew chiefs in the business, and I’m proud to be teamed up with them. I’m proud of our season. The day finished how it was supposed to.”
“Austin is a World Champion, Jack and the PEAK Chevy won the race and my daughter finished fifth in the points. Yeah, we’re excited about that,” said the team’s founder and namesake. “Everybody performed. Austin Prock, his dad (Jimmy Prock), his brother (Thomas Prock), all of them, at the end of the day, they won the championship. It’s unbelievable.
“I just want to thank PEAK, Chevrolet, Cornwell Tools, Auto Club. That’s their hot rod, and Robert Hight’s hot rod,” said the 16-time Funny Car Champion and 157-time tour winner. “Prock has done a great job with it this year.”
“I’m really proud of our drivers, our team. I want to thank Robert (Hight) for all for the help he’s given me putting deals back together (after my crash),” he said. “I just want to say thank you to everybody. We had a good closeout here in Pomona, and next we’ll go to the banquet to celebrate.”
After qualifying No. 1 for a single season record 15th time, Prock made more history on Sunday when he accelerated his Camaro to the fastest finish line speed in NHRA tour history at 341.68 mph in a first round win over Jason Rupert.
“As a competitor, you always believe you can win,” Prock said of his amazing first season in a Funny Car. “To go from losing a ride (in a Top Fuel dragster) to understanding Robert (Hight) had to step out, and those were some unfortunate circumstances. But it was a dream come true for me.
“I never wanted it to happen that way, but I always wanted to drive a Funny Car, always wanted to race with my family. Man, I got in this thing, and I just felt so comfortable, I felt at home,” said the man whose driving career began in quarter midgets and sprint cars.
“I knew the capability of this team,” he continued. “I’ve watched my dad (Jimmy Prock) my entire life, and man this ‘Prock Rocket’ just flies. I knew if I could at least do a decent job, we could turn on some win lights, win some races. Things just went much better than that. This thing was on kill all year long. I think that there in the final, that was the third time it didn’t make it past the Christmas Tree (all season long). Outstanding weekend, outstanding year.”
This story was originally published on November 18, 2024.
The post ‘Fast Jack’ Beckman Beats Teammate Austin Prock in All John Force Racing Final at In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
