Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase
PROCK, BECKMAN GO 1-2 ON FIRST DAY AT BRADENTON
Brittany Takes Monster Chevy to Provisional No. 2 Spot at PRO Superstar
Shootout
BRADENTON, Fla. (Feb. 5, 2025) – Three months after winning the NHRA
Mission Foods Championship in his first season in a nitro Funny Car,
Austin Prock showed no signs of a sophomore swoon Thursday as he powered
the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS to the provisional No. 1 qualifying
position for Saturday’s second PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton
Motorsports Park.
The 29-year-old son of Cornwell crew chief Jimmy Prock stopped the
timers in 3.816 seconds at 332.84 miles per hour, just a couple of ticks
off the track record-topping 3.805 he put on the board during testing on
Wednesday. Second best Thursday was JFR teammate “Fast Jack”
Beckman, who coaxed the also brand-new PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevy
to a time of 3.836 seconds at 329.99 mph.
Not to be outdone, two-time Top Fuel World Champion Brittany Force also
turned in a stellar opening day performance, qualifying her Monster
Energy Chevrolet No. 2 behind only defending event champion Doug
Kalitta. Kalitta grabbed the top spot at 3.658 seconds, 332.84 mph with
Brittany just a couple of clicks behind at 3.675, 334.15 mph.
“Pretty solid start to qualifying,” said the second youngest of John
Force’s racing daughters. “Car went right down the racetrack and it
did exactly what we wanted it to do. So, we feel really good going into
tomorrow. Now we can really push and see what we can get away with
going into race day.”
Three rounds of qualifying Friday will set the eight-car lineups for
Saturday eliminations in the biggest drag race outside of the Mission
Series.
“We backed it down a little,” Prock said of a run that was quickest
at every increment. “It’s tough to say that when you run 3.81, but
we just wanted to make sure it went down the racetrack and it was a
nice, safe run to get us locked in the show. That way we can have three
opportunities to learn tomorrow.
“We have a morning session, an afternoon session and an evening
session, so a lot to be learned and we’re in a good place to do
that,” said the man who won the inaugural Superstar Shootout in his
very first race as a Funny Car driver.
“Really proud of this team,” he continued. “That was quite the
hectic run. When we closed the body for the burnout, the windshield was
completely fogged over. I couldn’t see on the burnout (but) they
wiped it off and it was about fifty or sixty percent cleared up when I
was staging. I was going to stand on the gas regardless. It’s not
the first time I’ve driven with a fogged windshield.
“This racetrack has a lot of grip, and if you do a little hacksawing
on the wheel, it can take it most of the time. So, I got it down there.
It wasn’t the prettiest but definitely locked us in at No. 1.”
Beckman, making his first competitive appearance in the Shootout after
serving as the color commentator at last year’s event, also was
pleased with the first few runs he has made in the PEAK Chevy as he
prepares to chase the championship over the course of an entire season
for the first time since 2020.
“So cool,” said the 2012 NHRA Funny Car champ. “Thursday. Night
session. Last pair of Funny Cars, the No. 1 and 2 cars in the country
last year and we go to No. 1 and 2 in qualifying. Our PEAK Chevy SS was
awesome. It did everything we wanted it to do and there’s more in it
for tomorrow night.”
For Brittany, Thursday’s performance was particularly important. A
year ago, she posted a quick time in testing, just as she did this year,
but in 2024 she wasn’t able to repeat during qualifying and ultimately
failed to make the starting lineup. She and crew chiefs David Grubnic
and John Collins were determined not to follow that same path this time
around.
“We want to obviously redeem ourselves from last year,” Grubnic
said. “We want to keep the momentum going on how we finished the
season. So, for right now, we just have to make sure we keep crossing
our T’s and dotting our I’s.”