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Team Anxious to Get Back on Track with Upcoming Races at Phoenix, Pomona
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 9, 2025) – At the end of a rain-plagued 56th
annual NHRA Gatornationals in which neither of the three John Force
Racing drivers advanced beyond the second round, the mood was
surprisingly upbeat Sunday as the team packed up for a trip back to its
Brownsburg, Ind., shop prior to races in Phoenix, Ariz., and Pomona,
Calif.
“Rough weekend to start the year,” admitted reigning Mission Foods
Funny Car World Champion Austin Prock after losing a first-round duel
with Bob Tasca III. “The rear end blowing up (on the first qualifying
run) really just put us behind the eight ball along with Mother Nature
not being on our side.
“We were all confident going up there this morning and figured we
could make a nice run and get it down (the track),” he said.
“Honestly, I thought (that) even if Tasca and I both smoked the tires,
we would be able to get the job done but, when it spun the tires, it
disconnected the throttle and then the safety system got it (slowing the
usually potent Cornwell Tools Chevy to a pedestrian 13.050 seconds at
just 56.62 miles per hour).
“Not the outing we wanted, but I know there’s performance in this
Prock Rocket,” said the 2019 tour Rookie of the Year. “I’m looking
forward to going back to the shop and regrouping and going for a win in
Phoenix.”
Jack Beckman, who started from the No. 1 position for the first time
since taking over the seat of Force’s PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant
Chevrolet SS last August, was the only JFR driver to survive the first
round but even he was bounced in the second by four-time former World
Champ Matt Hagan.
“It was an odd weekend,” said the two-time World Champion. “And
it’s one of the ones JFR is not going to look back on fondly, but the
silver lining is we got a lot of good data. We got to test Wednesday, we
were No. 1 qualifier both sessions, we maxed out the qualifying points
and we got a round win on what was an incredibly tricky racetrack.
“Without lane choice second round, it was almost like going up there
with a strike-and-a- half against us,” he said. “But that’s
alright. We will persevere. We know that we have great data for the
upcoming races, and I can’t wait to roll into Phoenix because our
first win and John Force Racing’s 300th Funny Car win is going to come
soon.”
Brittany Force, who was similarly optimistic after an impressive
pre-Gatornationals test, echoed the sentiments of her teammates after
losing to Tony Stewart in the first round when her Monster Energy
Chevrolet dragster lost traction at the first hit of the throttle. She
was ahead at 60 feet, but little went right after that.
“Overall, it’s not the way our Monster team wanted to start the
season,” acknowledged the two-time Top Fuel World Champ. “But we
still have a lot of races ahead of us. This David Grubnic/John
Collins-run team is going to be strong this season. Our performance has
shown to have picked up where we left off last season and this new crew
works really well together.
“We were all very proud to run 302.69 mph to the 1/8th mile during
testing (the fastest speed ever at that distance), but after only two
qualifying runs we ended up sixth (in the Gatornationals qualifying
order). We may have overcompensated (in the first round) because we were
afraid it might shake and, unfortunately, we smoked early.
“But we know where the mistakes were made and will use it to learn and
move forward,” she said. “We have a good team and a good racecar and
I’m excited to see what we can accomplish in Phoenix.”
The team’s namesake, still under treatment for the Traumatic Brain
Injury he suffered last June in Richmond, Va., but back on tour to
support his teams and corporate partners PEAK, Cornwell, Chevrolet,
Monster Energy and HendrickCars.com, was similarly optimistic.
“Our cars qualified okay,” said the 157-time NHRA tour winner. “We
didn’t get very many rounds, but I was excited just to be here and I
know we’ve got some great teams.”