Two-time world champ enjoys another stellar campaign, setting all-time NHRA marks, reaching 10 wins again

INDIANAPOLIS – A year ago, Gaige Herrera burst onto the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season full-time, becoming something of a phenomenon in his first full season riding for the Vance & Hines team. Setting record after record, winning race after race, Herrera cruised to his first world championship, capping off a surreal year that even Herrera had trouble comprehending.

A season later, not much has seemingly changed, as Herrera rode his way to another dominant championship run, again setting records, again reaching double-digit wins and again remaining as the class of the category on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki.

Herrera won 10 races in 2024, clinching the championship after his opening-round win in Pomona, posting another unbelievable win-loss record, this time going 50-5 in 2024. Included in that was wins in the first six races of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. That gave him 11 straight victories dating back to last year, breaking the all-time NHRA record for most consecutive wins. That run included 46 straight round wins, another NHRA record, but Herrera insisted this championship and this season almost meant more for him. Continue reading →

Pro Stock’s all-time wins leader caps 2024 season with unbelievable comeback, sixth title and 106th career win

INDIANAPOLIS – Greg Anderson has enjoyed as much success as nearly everyone in NHRA history. But this year’s sixth Pro Stock championship might have been the most meaningful accomplishment of his stellar career.

Anderson got the situation he longed craved for – a winner-take-all final round in Pomona – and the veteran delivered in a major way, defeating KB Titan Racing teammate Dallas Glenn in a thriller with a run of 6.501-seconds at 211.30 mph in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro to narrowly defeat Glenn’s 6.516.

It handed the driver with the most wins in Pro Stock history (106) an unbelievable moment in a situation many would have thought improbable just few short weeks prior. As he’s been prone to do throughout his championship career, Anderson found another level when he needed it, warding off the young talent for one more year and winning a championship he said meant more than any of the previous five.

“I definitely feel that way,” Anderson said. “Our class is in good shape, that’s the good news. We’ve got so many young guns who can drive the wheels off these things and they’re racing for wins and championships. Yes, they’re trying to push me out the door, but I’m dragging my feet. People ask me when I’m going to quit and I’ll quit when I can’t win anymore. Apparently, I can’t quit yet. It’s not going to be tomorrow.” Continue reading →

Prock’s record-breaking season, including monumental 341.68 mph blast, 8 wins and 15 No. 1 qualifiers, leads to first world title

INDIANAPOLIS – Making a dream a reality is never easy, but surrounded by family and a standout team, Funny Car’s Austin Prock lived out a lifelong aspiration during his dominant, championship-winning 2024 season in the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

Prock left no doubt, turning in one of the most incredible seasons in recent Funny Car history, blistering track records, setting national marks and making the fastest run in NHRA history in the process.

It was everything Prock dreamed of – and much, much more – when he made his Funny Car debut this season. Filling in for John Force Racing President Robert Hight, a three-time world champion, Prock had big shoes to fill, but it’s an opportunity he relished. Prock raced alongside star crew chief and his father, Jimmy Prock, and his brother, Thomas, fulfilling a dream that only seemed to get better as the season went on.

Prock won eight races, tying him with Hight and Ron Capps for the most in a single season in Funny Car since 2000, with his playoff victory in Las Vegas putting him in position to clinch the world title during qualifying in Pomona. The 2019 Rookie of the Year did that and then went 3.804-seonds – the quickest run in Funny Car since 2017 and the fourth-quickest in history – to close out qualifying and his championship season with an emphatic exclamation point in his 11,000-horsepower Cornwell Tools/AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS. Continue reading →

Brown gets past loaded field in Pomona, earns 80th career win to cap off dream weekend, first title as team owner

INDIANAPOLIS – On a day that summed up just how incredible the competition is in the Top Fuel category, Antron Brown’s fourth world championship – and first as a team owner – came only after a remarkable run through a loaded field at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Eight years after he won his third title, Brown had to earn every bit of his fourth championship at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, knocking off Justin Ashley, Shawn Langdon, Brittany Force and Doug Kalitta to cap off one of the biggest days in his spectacular career.

It was necessary work to win a title, but by no means was it easy work for Brown and his standout team. Ashley entered the weekend as the points leader, Langdon was third (one point behind Brown), and both Kalitta and Force were in championship contention. An early defeat would have ended Brown’s championship dreams, but the four-time champion embraced the moment – as he always seems to do in pressure situations – and slipped past Ashley in a side-by-side thriller in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster. Continue reading →

TEMECULA, CA – First-time world champion Austin Prock was honored Monday evening, along with multi-time world champs Antron Brown, Greg Anderson and Gaige Herrera during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series awards ceremony at the Pechanga Resort Casino in scenic Southern California Wine Country.

The four standout competitors were crowned for their incredible achievements over the course of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and awarded their trophies for their championship runs during a memorable Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

After a record-breaking year in his rookie Funny Car season, Prock secured his first world championship on Saturday following qualifying at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at the historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. Prock entered Pomona with a 188-point lead over his John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman, who was racing for 16-time champion John Force. With the completion of qualifying at Pomona, Prock’s first world championship was a lock for his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car team. Throughout the season, Prock was nearly unstoppable and collected eight event wins, including three in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs, as well as 15 No. 1 qualifier positions, the most in Funny Car history. He then powered to NHRA’s fastest-ever pass on Sunday in Pomona when he clocked a 341.68 mph run, giving Prock the status of fastest driver in NHRA history. Continue reading →

TEMECULA, CA – In one of the closest races in recent history, Top Fuel driver and motorsports legend Tony Stewart was named the 2024 NHRA Rookie of the Year in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

Stewart was awarded Rookie of the Year honors Monday at the NHRA awards ceremony at the Pechanga Resort Casino. He was part of a standout field and a hotly-contested race that included Brandon Foster, Richard Gadson, Derrick Reese, Jasmine Salinas, Sienna Wildgust, Daniel Wilkerson and Ida Zetterstrom.

“It’s a big honor to win this award this season,” Stewart said. “There are some great drivers in the NHRA and it’s one of the most diverse forms of motorsports I’ve been a part of. I’ve had a really good time working with the series this season to promote and continue to grow the sport.”

Making his Top Fuel debut in 2024, Stewart advanced to a pair of final rounds, four semifinals, a berth in the Countdown to the Championship and a ninth-place finish in Top Fuel points. Stewart took over driving duties for his wife, Top Fuel standout Leah Pruett, this year as the couple focused on starting a family. Continue reading →

POMONA, CA – A day after winning his first career NHRA world championship, Funny Car’s Austin Prock made the fastest run in NHRA history, delivering an epic run of 341.68 mph during the first round of eliminations on Sunday at the 59th annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Prock closed out qualifying on Saturday in his 11,000-horsepower AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS with a spectacular run of 3.804-seconds, giving him the fourth-quickest run in NHRA history and the quickest since the 2017 campaign.

That gave Prock his 15th No. 1 qualifier, a single-season record for the Funny Car and nitro ranks, and was the finishing touch on his dominant Funny Car championship season that included eight victories and 12 final rounds in 20 races.

But the team had one more magical moment in them, producing an incredible blast to open qualifying. Prock went a strong 3.828 but the bottom number on the scoreboard was the one that drew everyone’s attention, as 341.68 flashed on the board.

It was the first time in NHRA history that any driver reached the 340-mph mark in an NHRA event and it was almost fitting that a dominant champion like Prock and his team, led by his father, crew chief Jimmy Prock, and his brother, Thomas, were the ones to deliver it. Continue reading →

POMONA, CA – Jack Beckman closed out the 2024 season NHRA season with a thrilling Funny Car victory on Sunday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, defeating John Force Racing teammate and world champion Austin Prock in the final round to close out the 59th annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals.

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the last of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the sixth race in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

In the teammate versus teammate final round, Beckman went a career-best 3.812-seocnds at 327.35 mph in his 11,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS to defeat Prock and pick up his second win of the season since taking over driving duties for John Force in August. It’s been a magical ride for Beckman, a former world champion, who won his 35th career race on Sunday.

To get to the final round on Sunday, Beckman knocked off Terry Haddock, Blake Alexander and Ron Capps, ensuring Prock and Force/Beckman finished first and second in the loaded Funny Car ranks. Continue reading →

POMONA, CA – For the fourth time in his Top Fuel career and for the first time as a team owner, Antron Brown is a world champion in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, clinching an emotional title following his semifinal round win on Sunday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip at the 59th annual In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals.

Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) clinched 2024 NHRA world Mission Foods Drag Racing Series championships on Sunday in Pomona.

Brown qualified just 12th in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster, but as he’s done all year, the standout was in prime form during eliminations. He knocked off Justin Ashley, who entered the weekend with the points lead, with a run of 3.696-seconds at 331.53 mph in an incredible matchup to open eliminations and then faced off with another title contender in Shawn Langdon. Both drivers ran into trouble, but Brown recovered and advanced to the semifinals against Force. Continue reading →