Prock Sets Single-Season Qualifying Record for Funny Car in Las Vegas

Funny Car points leader Austin Prock broke John Force’s record for most top qualifying spots in a single season Saturday on the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with his 14th-place finish of the year at the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals. Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Gage Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 for the fifth of six playoff races in the countdown to the championship.

Prock just missed the ET track record on Saturday in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS, going 3.817 seconds at 327.98 mph to secure his 14th No. 1 finish in 19 races for John Force Racing.

It was an exciting moment for Prock, who has seven wins this season and could have a bigger weekend for the points leader. He’ll begin eliminations against Tim Gibbons on Sunday and also have a chance to win his first career Funny Car World Championship. Prock will lead Jack Beckman by 148 points on Sunday. If he finishes three rounds ahead of Beckman, he will win the championship in Las Vegas.

“This is really special for the team, my dad, Thomas and Nate Hildahl did a great job,” Prock said. “I don’t think it’s fair that I get all the glory. These are the guys who made it happen. They provided me with a great race car to run all 14 races and I’m really glad I did the job for them.

“We have a great car. We now have one of the best cars in our ownership and we have the potential to achieve good results tomorrow. The work is not finished. We’re close, but we have a long way to go, so we just have to keep fighting. I rode really well this weekend and they did a great job setting it up, so we just have to do it tomorrow.”

Beckman did well in the final session under the lights, scoring a career-best 3.821 at 330.47 to finish second. Paul Lee finished third with a score of 3.845 at 327.35.

Force went even faster on Saturday, securing a double lead in qualifying for John Force Racing with a 3.660 at 334.98 in her Chevrolet Accessories dragster. It also gave Force her fifth first place of the season – and third in the last four races – and the 51st of her career, with the two-time world champion making a pair of stellar runs on Saturday.

That bodes well for Sunday as the Force look for their first win since the 2022 campaign. She will begin elimination against Josh Hart in search of another triumph in Las Vegas. Force dropped to 3.60 three times in qualifying, and with favorable temperatures on Sunday, the standout would like to have four runs in that range during eliminations.

“David Grubnick, John Collins and the entire Chevrolet team are very pleased with their performance this weekend,” Force said. “We qualified number 1 and we were there in 0.60 for three of our four motos, so that’s a pretty outstanding result. That’s what our team used to do, so we’re definitely going back to our old team.

“After not being in the winner’s circle for two years now, to do it here at a race track where we have had success would be great. I have a lot of good memories here, not only winning, but qualifying first, watching my sisters win here, my dad winning here, so we’re chasing a win here now. We have been chasing victory all season. Our team has two races left. All we want to do is get into the winner’s circle. “My dad is coming here this weekend, so I know we’re all fighting for this.”

Sean Langdon qualified second with a 3.672 at 328.30 in the final session under lights, while reigning world champion Doug Kalitta made a big move in the fourth session, qualifying third with a 3.674 at 334.57. Points leader Justin Ashley qualified seventh and will have a 44-point lead on race day over Antron Brown and a 65-point advantage over Langdon, who scored 11 points in qualifying.

In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson had an even better day on what he considered a must-win weekend and went even faster, finishing in first place in qualifying with a 6.596 run at 206.89 in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. It happened during the first session on Saturday, giving the five-time champion his seventh No. 1 finish this season and 131st of his career.

The best driver in the history of the class has a chance to have a great weekend on Sunday, but Anderson will need to complete four laps to do so. He will start the race against Chris McGah and will be looking for his first win since April. More importantly, it’s a chance to track down KB Titan Racing teammate and points leader Dallas Glenn, who will open race day with a 48-point lead over Aaron Stanfield and 84 points ahead of Anderson’s six points in qualifying.

“We had three great runs before the last one, so my race car was on point,” Anderson said. “Tomorrow will be a hell of a battle. At the end of the year the intensity increases and by the end of the day my season will either continue or end. I like the pressure. I live for these moments and I need four rounds of 20 points tomorrow to stay in this form. When I wake up, I hope I feel like an 18 year old and act like one.

“It’s much more difficult to win now. 16 cars qualified and it wouldn’t be a surprise if any of them came out on top. Right now it’s the best it’s ever been and it’s great to be a part of it.”

David Cuadra finished second with a 6.605 at 206.51 and Stanfield finished third with a 6.609 at 205.66. Points leader Glenn qualified fifth.

Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Gage Herrera made a strong move Saturday as he looked to move closer to a second straight world championship, finishing first with a 6.813 mileage at 198.20 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki. This gives the points leader his ninth qualifying No. 1 position of the season and his 23rd position in the last two seasons. He set the fastest time in both sessions on Saturday, regaining all the advantage Matt Smith had on Friday.

Herrera will begin eliminations against Kahea Woods, extending his points lead on Saturday. He now leads Smith by 63 points and the two standouts could meet in the final round in Las Vegas on Sunday.

“We had a little bit of trouble yesterday with an engine issue in the second quarter, so when we came out this morning and ran 6.81, I was a little shocked,” Herrera said. “This run actually felt slow. We scored a few small points. We won one point against Matt, which is very important.

“We always say we don’t count points and I try not to take it too seriously, but at the end of the day we all want the big prize. It’s hard to block, but you do the best you can. I liked this year much more than last year. I try to have fun and winning the championship is a bonus at the end.”

M. Smith qualified second with a 6.822 at 198.70, and Angie Smith took third after running a 6.850 at 197.59.

Qualifying for the Ford Performance NHRA Nationals begins at 11 a.m. PT on Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.