Brittany, Beckman Take Their Chevies to Semifinals at 70th U.S. Nationals

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Austin Prock applied an exclamation point to his team’s domination of the regular season Monday, driving the Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS past the two-time defending champion Ron Capps in the final round of 70th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

At the wheel of a John Force Racing Chevy prepared by his dad with input from his brother, and with his grandfather watching, the 29-year-old Funny Car rookie went wire-to-wire in drag racing’s biggest single event.

Just for good measure, he serviced the supercharger on the Cornwell Camaro between rounds, one of the jobs he handled at JFR before he got his chance to drive a Funny Car like his grandad, Tom Prock, who lost to Don Prudhomme in the Funny Car semifinals of the 1977 Nationals. Continue reading →

Driving for Five-Time Indy Champion Force, Beckman Starts Third in PEAK Chevy

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – For the third time in the last four years and the fourth time in her last five appearances, Brittany Force will start the world’s most prestigious drag race from the No. 1 qualifying position in her Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel dragster.

Trying to nail down a starting spot in the upcoming NHRA playoffs, the 38-year-old daughter of motorsports icon John Force will oppose Shawn Langdon, the surprise No. 16 qualifier, in Monday’s opening round of the 70th annual U.S. Nationals, the final event in the regular season.

Although her 3.693 second best was .053 off the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park record she set two years ago, it was good enough to make her No. 1 for the 48th time in her 12-year pro career. Her challenge Monday will be to take her David Grubnic-and-John Collins-tuned Chevy dragster a step further than in 2021 and 2022 when it came up short in final round losses to Steve Torrence and Antron Brown, respectively. Continue reading →

Prock Surges to the Top in Funny Car; Beckman No. 3 in PEAK Chevy Camaro

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Brittany Force drove the Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel dragster to the quickest time of the weekend Saturday, stopping the timers in 3.693 seconds at 333.08 miles per hour to strengthen her hold on the provisional No. 1 qualifying position for Monday’s 70th annual U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Force, the two-time World Champion, picked up five more qualifying bonus points Saturday to add to the four she earned on Friday. She can add even more in two final qualifying sessions Sunday that will set the field for the final event in the 14-race regular season.

After becoming the only driver to break the 3.70 barrier during the first two days, Force “slowed” to 3.790 at 330.39 mph on her second Saturday lap, but that still was fourth quickest of the round.

Runner-up at “The Big Go” two of the last three years, Brittany shared the Saturday stage with John Force Racing teammates Austin Prock and Jack Beckman who will start Sunday’s final sessions in the No. 1 and No. 3 qualifying positions, respectively. Continue reading →

Beckman Puts PEAK in Provisional No. 3 Spot; Prock No. 4 in Cornwell Camaro

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Two-time World Champion Brittany Force drove her Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel dragster to the top of the provisional qualifying order Friday on the first day of the 70th annual U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Although she was a tenth of a second off her own track record, Force’s 3.740 at 334.32 miles per hour was a good start toward locking the 16-time Mission Foods tour winner into the upcoming Countdown to the Championship.

“You know, we never thought we’d be (in this position),” said NHRA national record holder. “We didn’t qualify at Chicago and we sat out at Norwalk (Ohio) to be with family (during dad John’s hospitalization following a June 23 crash in Richmond, Va.) so we came into this weekend tenth in points.

“It’s a tough position to be in but we need to stay in there for Chevrolet, Monster and all of our other sponsors. That .74 put us No. 1 with four (qualifying) bonus points. It’s everything we could ask for on day one.“ Continue reading →

Two-Time World Champ Aims High with Chevrolet Accessories Dragster

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Brittany Force has advanced to the final round of the U.S. Nationals two of the last three years. She’s been the No. 1 qualifier in three of her last four appearances and she’s the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park track record holder for time and speed at 3.640 seconds and 337.75 miles per hour.

The only thing, really, that she hasn’t done is raise the trophy in the world’s most prestigious drag race, a bucket list item she hopes to address when she sends the Dave Grubnic-and-John Collins-prepared Chevrolet Accessories dragster after the Top Fuel championship this week in the 70th renewal of “The Big Go.”

“It’s going to be a fight for this Chevy Accessories team to stay in the Top 10 and give ourselves the best shot at chasing down the title at the end of the season,” said the two-time World Champion and current national record holder.

“We’ve been very successful over the last few seasons at Indy (runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2022; No. 1 starts in 2019, 2021 and 2022) and we hope to continue that tradition this week and take home the Wally (the winner’s trophy named for the late founder of the NHRA, Wally Parks),” said the 16-time tour winner. Continue reading →

Cornwell Tools Chevy Camaro Seeks Tenth No. 1 Start, Fifth Tour Victory

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – In a town in which his great grandfather raced in the Indy 500, in which his grandfather reached the Funny Car semifinals at the 1977 U.S. Nationals and in which his dad tuned Robert Hight to a trio of Labor Day victories, Austin Prock hopes to add to the family legacy this week at the wheel of the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS.

The 29-year-old, who took a circular path to a straight-line career, already has clinched the No. 1 starting spot in the NHRA’s upcoming Countdown to the Championship and, as a result, will be the Funny Car favorite when pro qualifying begins Friday in the 70th renewal of the world’s biggest drag race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Nevertheless, the winner of the pre-season PRO Superstar Shootout is coming off what he characterized as the worst driving performance of his career during the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn., where he suffered a rare starting line lapse that resulted in a .118 reaction time and a second round loss.

Rivals don’t expect the former quarter midget, sprint car and Top Fuel driver to stumble in a such fashion moving forward, however. Statistically, he has been one of the best in the sport at the starting line. In 38 competitive rounds leading up to his Brainerd elimination, in fact, the professionally trained chef’s average reaction time was .064; his best was .043, his worst .090.

Continue reading →

Racing on Force’s Behalf, Beckman Tries to ‘Repeat’ in 70th U.S. Nationals

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – He’s not the defending champion at the U.S. Nationals, but Jack Beckman did win it the last time he was in it, which is a source of considerable optimism as the 2016 World Champion climbs back into the seat of the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS to compete in this week’s 70th renewal of drag racing’s biggest single event.

“The last year I raced, the world was falling apart,” Beckman said of a 2020 season heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. “There were four national events at Indy (that year) but only one U.S. Nationals – and I left with the trophy.”

A two-time U.S. Nationals champion and three-time runner-up, Beckman beat then teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. in the final round at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Sept. 6, 2020. Two months later, both were out of a job, victimized by the bane of all big-time auto racers, loss of sponsorship.

“Fast forward four years and now I am strapped into a Chevy Camaro that I think is the baddest race car in the pits,” said the 58-year-old who overcame cancer to become an NHRA World Champion in two different categories (he was the Super Comp champion in 2003). “I’m driving for the coolest car owner at the biggest race of the year (and) I think we have a realistic shot at winning ‘The Big Go’ for PEAK and John Force.” Continue reading →

Beckman Starts Sixth for PEAK and Force; Brittany Records Best Saturday Time for Monster

BRAINERD, MN – After delays for weather and a series of track cleanups, Austin Prock made it all worthwhile Saturday, driving the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to the No. 1 qualifying position for Sunday’s 42nd Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway with a time of 3.860 seconds.

It will be the ninth No. 1 start of the season for the 28-year-old Funny Car rookie who will line up against 16th qualifier Jim Campbell in Sunday’s opening round with a chance to earn another weekend double made possible by his sixth straight win in Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge.

While the “Prock Rocket” was assuming its usual position at the top of the order, “Fast Jack” Beckman continued to impress in a fill-in role for John Force in the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro in which he finished the day in the No. 6 position after improving to 3.890 seconds at 327.51 mph in the delayed fourth qualifying session. Continue reading →

Funny Car Point Leader Drives Cornwell Camaro to Sixth Straight Win

BRAINERD, MN– Austin Prock continued to set new standards Saturday at the wheel of the Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS, winning his sixth straight Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in advance of Sunday’s 42nd Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

The fourth-generation racer, who turns 29 on Wednesday, beat Ron Capps in the #2Fast2Tasty final after an opening victory over Bob Tasca III, to whom he had lost in the semifinals at Sonoma, Calif., by .001 of a second. It wasn’t that close this time around as Prock powered his way to a 3.945 second time while Tasca slowed to 4.022.

“This is crazy,” beamed Thomas Prock, brother of the point leader and a key player on the Cornwell crew. “I can’t believe we’ve won so many of these events and that was a great run right there. The track got very good after they prepped it (following a massive oildown). Great job by the NHRA. Way to stick with it and get it down right!”

In the final, Prock was out first and never trailed, winning in a time of 3.860 seconds that carried him to the No. 1 qualifying position for the ninth time in 13 races this season. Continue reading →

Prock, Brittany Claim Provisional No. 6 Qualifying Positions at Brainerd

BRAINERD, MN – Like riding a bicycle. In his first points-earning appearance at the wheel of John Force’s PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS, Jack Beckman made solid runs in both lanes Friday to grab the provisional No. 7 qualifying position for the 42nd Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway

After a 44-month hiatus during which he went back to work at his old job as a elevator repairman, the 58-year-old Beckman will start the final day of qualifying one position behind teammate and point leader Austin Prock, who was forced to abort his second run Friday in the Cornwell Tools Camaro due to tire shake.

Beckman, who is driving in place of the sport’s all-time biggest winner, who suffered a TBI in a high-speed crash at Richmond, Va., was second quickest at 3.920 seconds on his first attempt Friday before stopping the 1,000 foot timers in 3.931 seconds on his second. The 2012 series champion will have two more opportunities to improve on Saturday. Continue reading →