Top Fuel driver Austin Prock hasn’t always raced in a straight line.
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series contender originally began his career on a circle track, wheeling quarter midgets, sprint cars and full-sized midget cars.
Prock was even a driver for Tony Stewart at one point — and ironically, the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has also worked his way to the drag strip since then with his Tony Stewart Racing operation and a full-time schedule driving in the Top Alcohol class. But unlike Stewart, Prock’s journey from open-wheel racing to the seat of a Top Fuel dragster involved a dream that has been put in place for years.
The 27-year-old is a fourth-generation racer with roots that run deep in drag racing. His grandfather, Tom Prock, was a former NHRA driver and his father, Jimmy Prock, is a champion tuner who serves as crew chief for Funny Car driver Robert Hight.
It seemed inevitable that the younger Prock would follow in their footsteps at some point, but it took a few years for him to forge his own way into the NHRA ranks.
At the tail end of 2016, Prock received a call from John Force — champion driver, legendary team owner and mainstay in the world of drag racing. Force offered Prock a shot at being a developmental driver and, as Prock said, “the rest is history.”
In 2019, Prock made his Top Fuel debut with the John Force Racing team, recovering from a wild first run in his 11,000-horsepower dragster to earn a win, a berth in the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs and rookie-of-the-year honors. The onset of COVID-19 threw a significant curveball Prock’s way the following year, as he was forced to switch gears after a stellar rookie season.
“I went from living my dream to working construction during COVID,” Prock said. “It was definitely gut-wrenching.”
It certainly wasn’t the career trajectory he had imagined, but by 2021, Prock was back under the John Force Racing tent as a crew member for Hight. Prock’s hunger to wheel his own machine on the drag strip reached its peak in early 2022 and finally, after months of waiting, Prock strapped in to the JFR Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster last February for his second full season in the Top Fuel class.
With a mix of returning crew members from his rookie season and new crew chiefs Rahn Tobler and Joe Barlam, Prock was determined to make some noise during his sophomore year.
“We did go out to the first race and we went to the final round and almost won the thing, but we fell in a lull after that,” Prock said. “We were having engine issues, hurting parts and exploding engines. We weren’t very friendly on the budget during the middle of the season.”
It took several small fixes and more than a few laps of competition to dial in the dragster, but when the Countdown to the Championship came around, the JFR team turned in a flawless performance and won the opening round of the playoffs. The victory at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pa., moved Prock from 12th to sixth in the standings.
“When you get hot, you’re hot,” Prock said with a smile and a shrug. “I said after my interview in Reading, ‘We’re back in the fight. We could go win the championship.’ And we almost did.”
With a second playoff win at the Auto Club NHRA Finals, Prock secured third place in the championship — his teammate Brittany Force took the title, while Antron Brown was second overall.
On the strength of a top-three finish in the standings, Prock is ready to walk into the lion’s den at this weekend’s AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Florida’s Gainesville Raceway to begin a new season. Though he’s cognizant of the formidable opponents he’ll be facing, the 27-year-old is more determined than ever to insert himself into the Top Fuel title fight.
“As a young kid, I always feel like I’m the underdog. A lot of these people I’m racing against, I was googly-eyed over as a kid, now I’m lining up next to them in the other lane. I feel like I have to prove myself,” Prock said. “But I feel like we’ve done a good job at that so far.”
His valuable takeaways from last year will guide his foray into the upcoming season.
Lean on the data. Keep a cool head. And never forget, “I’m living my dream.”