Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
Prock and Beckman Go 2-3 in Funny Car; Brittany Second to Kalitta in Top Fuel
PHOENIX, Ariz. (March 21, 2025) – After an uncharacteristic
performance in the season opener at Gainesville, Fla., reigning Funny
Car World Champion Austin Prock looked more like his old dominant self
Friday, coaxing his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS to one of the three
quickest runs in each of the first two qualifying sessions in 40th NHRA
Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park
The 29-year-old finished Day 1 in the provisional No. 2 position at
3.883 seconds, just a tick behind Bob Tasca III (3.863) and a tick ahead
of John Force Racing teammate Jack Beckman (3.895), who continued to
rack up qualifying bonus points in his PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant
Chevy.
Racing without the “mud flaps” that usually are positioned just in
front of the rear tires on modern era Top Fuel dragsters like her
Monster Energy Chevrolet, two-time World Champion Brittany Force also
finished Friday in the provisional No. 2 position. Quickest in the first
session, she wound up second behind only Doug Kalitta after negotiating
the course in 3.705 seconds at 331.69 mph. Two final qualifying sessions
Saturday will set the lineup for Sunday eliminations.
All three JFR entries are benefitting this week from the sponsor support
of Phoenix-based Powers Affordable Housing and the moral support of John
Powers III, one of Force’s former Funny Car rivals, who spent Friday
in the JFR compound.
“That’s NHRA Drag racing for you,” Prock said of Friday’s
performance. “One day you’re in the dirt and next day you’re
making a nice run down the racetrack. Great start to the weekend here in
Phoenix. Sun’s out. Happy to be at a racetrack where it’s warm (and)
really proud to have new sponsors on the side of this racecar.
“Obviously, we were looking for a get healthy day after (qualifying
only 15th and losing in the first round at) Gainesville,” said the man
who last year qualified his Chevy No. 1 a record-setting 15 times in 20
events. “It’s got a lot more left in it. It kind of chattered the
tire early both runs. We’re just getting it back dialed in.
“I know this ‘Prock Rocket’ is going to be flying by the end of
the weekend, so I’m excited about that and excited to have some new
partners on board with us. Powers Affordable Housing. They use all
American made steel, and they have some really cool products for living
in or if you have a hot rod you need a garage for. And it’s really
cool to have Graham Rahal on the side of this thing as well. Graham and
I are good buddies, and he has a hell of a facility out there in
Zionsville (Indiana). So, excited about that and excited to get in
tomorrow and see where we land on Sunday.”
Second quickest on his first run, Beckman was third quickest in the
Friday night session and, like his teammate, anxious to see what
Saturday brings.
“Another great qualifying day for the PEAK Chevy SS,” he said. “At
Gainesville, we only got two qualifying runs, but we were No. 1 both
sessions. And then we come out here and first session we’re No. 2 and
second session we’re No. 3. That means we got bonus points every time
this car has gone down the track this year in qualifying and that’s
just a testament to the team and the crew guys on this car.
“They’re doing everything right,” said the three-time Phoenix
winner. “The crew chiefs are making good calls and that just increases
my confidence every time they fire it up.”
As for Brittany, she was quickest in the first session at 3.768 seconds
and was the first to take advantage of the NHRA’s four-race moratorium
on “mud flaps.”
“This is a really good start for our Monster Energy team,” she said.
“There’s a lot of theories and speculation going around about
removing the ‘mud flaps,’ but we didn’t have them on our car in
Gainesville during testing when we went 302.69 mph to the 1/8th mile
(fastest speed ever to that distance) and we didn’t have them on at
all today.
“We’re behind Doug after today, but we’re still very satisfied
with the performance of the car,” said the 17-time tour winner.
“We’re also excited to be teaming up with Powers Affordable Housing
and with Graham Rahal Performance. That one is very special since Graham
is my brother-in-law (married to former Funny Car driver Courtney
Force). So, to tie together IndyCar and drag racing and have family on
our car is very special.”
Regarding the mud flaps, crew chief David Grubnic said flatly that
“One run doesn’t prove anything. We’ve been given the opportunity
to explore (this issue) but we’ve got to look at driveshafts; we’ve
got to look at a lot of things. The car pretty much ran its number
(Friday) so it doesn’t suggest the mud flaps did anything (but) it’s
way too early. Let’s just see what happens.”