Story By: JERRY BONKOWSKI / JOHN FORCE RACING – 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.
“I had a feeling we were going to get it done,” Prock said. “My grandfather is here. This is the first race he’s been to since I (started driving) this Funny Car with his number on the side of if (#374). He started this legacy and today we marked another one off the list as a family.
“That’s unbelievable to win the U.S. Nationals with your dad tuning it (and) your brother the assistant crew chief. This whole Cornwell Tools Chevy team, they are just badasses,” he said. “I was chopping down the tree all weekend and I just wanted to make sure everyone knew I was back.”
Indeed, after losing in his last start with an uncharacteristic .118 starting line reaction time, Prock was .063, .057, .060 and .055 on Monday on the way to winning for the fifth time in 14 regular season events in the Mission Foods Series.
The car’s consistency famously matched that of the driver. After qualifying low at 3.855, the blue and black Chevy stopped the timers Monday in 3.850, 3.879, 3.887 and 3.885 seconds. The only real scare came in the second round when Alexis DeJoria laid down at 3.876. Prock made that slightly quicker time a loser, though, with an .027 of a second edge at the starting line.
“It still hasn’t hit me yet that we won the U.S. Nationals,” gushed the former quarter midget and sprint car driver. “So many people dream of winning this race and very few have. I’m very proud to add my name to that list with my dad and brother Thomas turning the knobs along with Nate Hildahl. Yeah, it’s a pretty surreal moment.”
Meanwhile, facing the prospect of missing the playoffs for the first time in her career, Brittany Force responded in a manner one would expect of a driver with her pedigree, powering her Chevrolet Accessories dragster past two former World Champions before succumbing to a loss of traction in the semifinals.
That performance assured the 38-year-old a berth in the Countdown where she will be seeking her third series championship in the last eight years.
The No. 1 qualifier at Indy for the fourth time in her last five starts, she stopped 2013 World Champion Shawn Langdon in a first round nailbiter that ended in a massive fireball as the supercharger failed almost at the instant that she crossed the line in 3.700 seconds at 333.49 mph, second best of eliminations.
The margin at the finish was .005 of a second, making it the closest race of a weekend during which she posted quick time (3.693 seconds) and top speed (334.32 mph).
“We’ve been working so hard all season long and it’s been a rollercoaster,” said the 16-time tour winner. “It’s been ups-and-downs all season long (but) we wanted a shot at this championship and sitting in the 10th position coming into this weekend, we knew it was on the line.
“It’s been a crazy, emotional year so to be able to lock (up a playoff berth) here, I’m incredibly proud of the Chevy Accessories team, Monster Energy, Cornwell Tools, PEAK, all our sponsors,” she said. “I’m just excited to be here – and we’re not done yet. We’ve got more racing ahead.”
After stopping Langdon, she used a .049 reaction time to get a jump on 10-time U.S. Nationals champion Tony Schumacher and never trailed, winning in 3.779 seconds. Schumacher crossed the line in 3.792 seconds. Her title bid ran out against eventual race winner Clay Millican in the semifinals where she lost traction and slowed to 8.988 seconds at only 60 mph.
Jack Beckman had another solid day in the seat of the PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Camaro, posting quick time of eliminations at 3.842 seconds, but his semifinal loss to Capps created a position swap that will send him into the Countdown as John Force’s flag bearer in the number six position instead of the number five slot in which he started the race.
The No. 3 qualifier, Beckman stopped Dale Creasy Jr. in round one, 3.842 seconds to a surprisingly close 3.950. He then turned back two-time former World Champion Cruz Pedregon, 3.870 to 3.949, before his Camaro lost traction against Capps and slowed to 7.691 seconds at only 97 mph.
“We got bit in the semis when track conditions changed,” Beckman said. “The lane got warmer just as we got up there and we were too hopped-up for that. But there’s a lesson in every pass and we’re taking all of that forward. We racked up a ton of qualifying points, were low ET in the first and second rounds – so we’re definitely knocking on the door of some wins really soon.
“The truth is, we’ve got such a strong Chevy that’s making consistent runs, lap after lap, and we’re gathering invaluable data with every pass,” said the 33-time NHRA Funny Car winner. “That’s going to make us a real threat come Countdown time. We’re just getting started and this car’s going to be killer in the playoffs.”