Story By: SARA SLAUGHTER / JOHN FORCE RACING – NORWALK, OH – Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster team return to Summit Motorsports Park for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals sitting tied for third with his teammate Brittany Force in the Camping World points standings. Just 58 points back from second, Prock is hoping to create some distance with a second win in the 2023 season.
Prock’s year thus far has included a win in the Charlotte Four-Wide event, a runner-up finish in the Winternationals at Pomona, California, and a semifinal finish in the most recent event in the series, the Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol, Tennessee. Prock had his best qualifying effort of the season in Chicago, starting race day from the No. 2 position.
“I’m looking forward to heading back to Nrowalk. We had a pretty good race car there last year and hopefully, we can have that right at the first qualifying session to start off a strong weekend,” Prock said. “We have a new front half on the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster that the guys worked on after Bristol. We’re looking forward to debuting the fresh pipe this weekend.”
Prock has had a roller-coaster history at the Norwalk event. His best result at Summit Motorsports Park came in a car other than his Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster. In 2021 he worked as a crew guy on Robert Hight’s Funny Car as John Force Racing was re-organizing after the COVID-19 pandemic, Prock stepped in for an ailing Clay Millican qualifying fourth and reaching the semifinals. Back in a JFR dragster last year, he qualified fifth and beat Millican in round one but lost to Josh Hart in the quarterfinals.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park begins with qualifying on Friday at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. Eliminations for the event are slated for Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Television coverage of race weekend action begins with a qualifying show Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Eliminations will air on FOX Broadcasting Network Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET.