In an unprecedented achievement for John Force Racing, teammates Brittany Force and Austin Prock notched top qualifying positions in their respective drag racing categories at the 39th annual Texas Fall Nationals.
Brittany Force’s impressive run of 3.667 seconds at a speed of 338.19 mph secured her the No. 1 position for the 50th time in her career, an achievement matched by only 18 other drivers across all categories. At the same time, Austin Prock claimed his 13th No. 1 Funny Car start in just 18 events this year, matching the previous record established by the legendary John Force in 1996.
The Texas Fall Nationals, held at the Texas Motorplex, became a stage for John Force Racing’s dominance, with this being the 16th time since 2013 that the team achieved No. 1 qualifying positions in both Top Fuel and Funny Car at the same event. Both Force and Prock brought with them momentum from recent successes; Prock, in particular, had turned a No. 1 qualification into a win at the Labor Day U.S. Nationals, further showcasing the team’s strength.
Reflecting on her journey to 50 No. 1 qualifications, Brittany Force discussed the nature of her success. “50 seems like an impossible number,” she reflected, via Drag Illustrated.
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“To be able to accomplish that in my career is huge and it’s something I’m very proud of. When we were creeping up on it, just hearing the number ’50,’ I’m like, ‘wow, we’ve done that.’
“And the cool thing is, it’s a collective thing. It wasn’t done with just one team but with so many teams since I first started in 2013 with so many different crew chiefs, but they all taught me things along the way that I still use to this day.
“So I’m thankful to them that they were a part of my career getting to 50 (No. 1s).”
Austin Prock, on the other hand, spoke to the technical demands that have driven his success.
“Yeah, that’s pretty special,” Prock stated. “I had no idea that we were even close or even that there was a record until a few weeks ago. So, it’s pretty special to be added to that list, and to do it in 18 races is pretty incredible.
“It speaks volumes about this team – my dad, my brother (Thomas), Nate Hildahl, everyone that’s on this AAA car, this Cornwell Tools car. I’m really proud of this team and happy to be driving this race car.”
Both drivers were preparing to adapt to changing track conditions this weekend. Brittany Force said the following for Sunday’s racing:
“We’ll pull from runs where we’re on, you know, similar conditions, similar track conditions, similar weather. We’ll pull up just a handful of races that we were running in the heat.
“So, we’ll look at those runs and see how we set up the car. We’ll try to dial it in as best we can using what we have from today. It’ll be the more important run than last night’s run (in totally different conditions).”
Prock echoed this.
“I just stab and steer. I don’t have anything to do with (the way the car is set up). I just try not to mess it up. We have a pretty solid notebook right now. We can run down a racetrack that’s 140 degrees or a track that’s 80 degrees.”
The future is poised to bring even more challenges, as Jack Beckman – John Force’s substitute – admitted:
“So, the interesting thing is that the first and second place cars in Funny Car this year, right now, are both substitute drivers. Austin’s taken the reins for Robert Hight and I’m taking them for John and a full season in 2025? That’s John’s call to make. I don’t know what’s going to happen but, I’ll tell you this, if they ask me, the answer is ‘yes.'”
