Even in defeat, NHRA Top Fuel newcomer Austin Prock was extremely impressive in his debut at the Lucas Oil Winternationals.
Early title-contender pick Mike Salinas beat the 23-year-old Prock in round 2 of Monday’s eliminations at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Calif. But Prock matched him 3.6 for 3.6 — seconds in elapsed time for which elite racers Clay Millican, Leah Pritchett, Steve Torrence, and Tony Schumacher had seemed to corner the market.
Prock ran a 3.699-second E.T. on the 1,000-foot course at 334.15 mph, the quickest and fastest of his budding career. It was only his sixth competitive pass in a dragster. His 334.15 ranks No. 7 on the all-time speed chart, tying him with Shawn Langdon (Reading, Pa., 2012) and Pritchett (Phoenix, 2017). For the record, Salinas won with a 3.685-second pass at a 334.40-mph speed that tops of the meet and fifth-fastest of all time.
Coupled with his first-round pedalfest victory Sunday over 2017 champion and his John Force Racing teammate Brittany Force, the Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist Dragster driver has earned kudos from drag-racing icon Don “The Snake” Prudhomme. Prock established himself a promising powerhouse as one of the dozen drivers to beat the rainstorm that pushed eliminations into Monday. Not only did Prock win his first race-day test, he lost traction, then feathered the throttle perfectly.
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