MADISON, Ill. — Funny Car points leader Austin Prock rolled to his 12th No. 1 qualifier of the season for John Force Racing in front of a capacity crowd on Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway, as he looks to stay unbeaten in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs at the 13th annual NHRA Midwest Nationals.
T.J. Zizzo (Top Fuel), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the 17th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the third of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
Prock just missed the track record set by Robert Hight in 2017, going 3.836 seconds at 330.72 mph in his 11,000-horsepower AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS. His 12th No. 1 qualifier this season also pulls him to within one No. 1 spot of tying John Force for the most top qualifiers in a single season in Funny Car history.
Prock has picked up 12 No. 1 qualifiers in the first 17 races and he remains focused on his quest for a first career world championship. The young standout has won the first two playoff races, holding a 129-point lead entering the weekend, and will try to pick up his eighth win of the year on Sunday.
“This whole team, they’re so incredibly smart and dialed in right now,” Prock said. “It sure is fun to drive. We were low both sessions and I’m really proud to be driving this AAA Camaro this weekend.
“We’re definitely not changing our mindset, we’re not laying up at all. We’re going out there and racing like what got us to this point. We want to get as much of a points lead as we can possibly have going into Pomona, and we’ve been doing a good job of that today. We racked up all the qualifying points today. It was another great day – stout runs, and we have a good hot rod for tomorrow.”
Chad Green jumped to the second spot during the final qualifier with a run of 3.876 at 325.77 and Ron Capps took third on the strength of a 3.878 at 333.33.
In a Top Fuel field filled with championship contenders, it was part-time racer Zizzo who impressed the most for the second time this season, racing to the No. 1 spot with a run of 3.714 at 327.66 in his 11,000-horsepower Rust-Oleum dragster. It’s the second career No. 1 qualifier for the veteran, who earned his first career top spot earlier this year in Chicago. He put together a similar performance on Saturday in St. Louis, holding off an absolutely loaded Top Fuel field.
He’ll open race day against Billy Torrence, looking to pick up his first career Top Fuel victory, and Zizzo had plenty to be excited about after two strong runs on Saturday.
“It’s spectacular. Our all-volunteer team, we do this because we love the sport, we love the sport of NHRA championship drag racing,” Zizzo said. “We come out here and qualify No. 1 twice now. As far as the mindset of a driver, it puts way more pressure on me. That’s what a good racecar does. I can’t go up there and lollygag anymore, I have to go up there and get after it.
“The 16 (cars) that are qualified for the show, no joke, any one of us can win. It would be near and dear to my heart to be able to qualify No. 1 and then go four rounds tomorrow. But I know that’s a tough feat.”
Eight-time world champ Tony Schumacher impressed on Saturday as well, qualifying second with a 3.718 at 325.22 and Brittany Force is third after going 3.722 at 314.39. Points leader Antron Brown, who has won the first two races in the Countdown, qualified 10th and will open eliminations Jasmine Salinas.
Looking to make a late-season run, St. Louis might be the place for defending Pro Stock world champ Enders to do it and she made the most of Saturday’s two sessions, taking the No. 1 qualifier for the seventh time this year after a run of 6.565 at 208.01 in her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Scag Power Equipment car. Enders thriving at World Wide Technology Raceway should be no surprise, as the six-time world champion has more wins at the facility than any driver in NHRA history.
Entering the weekend third in points, she’ll look to win for the seventh time in St. Louis on Sunday, opening race day against Chris McGaha. Enders hasn’t won since the season-opening race in Gainesville and Sunday would certainly be an ideal time as she tries to track down points leader Dallas Glenn and Elite Motorsports teammate Aaron Stanfield.
“The (qualifying) points always add up, I’ve said that from the beginning of our career, and they made a huge difference in both of our ‘14 and ‘15 championship chases,” Enders said. “I imagine it will be the same this year, but to come off the trailer after a long day yesterday and go to the No. 1 spot, you want to run great but be good enough to get down. We made a huge error in the second qualifier but were still second for the session, and we’ll take that into Sunday and see what we can do with it.
“It’s extremely important to get down and go as fast as you can because you want those points, but you have to be conservative enough to not go out there and blow the back window out. It’s a fine line to be fast and a little bit out of control. I’m glad they got the track ready today and it was awesome for us.”
Glenn qualified second with a 6.570 at 207.66 and his KB Titan Racing teammate Greg Anderson took third after going 6.578 at 207.91.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Herrera delivered a stellar run to open qualifying on Saturday, going 6.796 at 197.74 on his RevZilla/Mission Foods/Vance & Hines Suzuki, earning his seventh No. 1 spot of the season. Herrera, the defending world champ, entered the weekend in an unfamiliar spot, as Matt Smith took over the points lead last weekend with his victory in Charlotte.
Smith has been terrific in St. Louis over the years, but Herrera won the event last year and will attempt to make it two in a row at the pivotal playoff race.
“This is what makes it fun — between Vance & Hines and (Matt Smith Racing), we’re going back and forth, and that’s how it should be going through the Countdown,” Smith said. “The points are very tight, within one round, so I’m glad to get that No. 1 qualifier and see if we can continue this tomorrow and throughout race day. That’s all that counts.
“My mindset is just trying to go round-by-round. I really don’t look back at last year or yesterday, I just try to go out there and go A-to-B as a rider. It’s going to play out how it’s going to play out.”
Smith finished right behind in second thanks to a 6.807 at 198.12 and Richard Gadson, who has advanced to the finals in each of the first two playoff races, is third after going 6.840 at 195.28.
Eliminations for the NHRA Midwest Nationals begin at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway.