



One step of the process is complete.

Austin Prock, the son of world championship NHRA crew chief Jimmy Prock, finished the nitro Funny Car licensing process June 25 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Prock made two passes to complete what he needed to in order to obtain his nitro Funny Car license.

“I didn’t make it to the finish line on either pass,” said Prock, 22. “They clicked me off early at like 800 feet on both runs. This is a dream come true (to get this license). I’m just ready to get out there and stage up next to someone now. In Norwalk, I was driving John (Force’s) Funny Car. We put Courtney (Force’s Funny Car) body on it because John’s spare body needed to get back to the shop for repairs and his other body was brand new and we didn’t feel it was very smart to put the rookie in the brand-new body.”

Prock’s first run he clocked a 4.025-second pass at 284 mph and then he recorded a 4.18-second pass at 240 mph on the second run. Ronnie Thompson and Jon Schaffer were tuning Prock’s Funny Car.

“This is awesome,” said Prock about the licensing experience. “I’m having a blast doing it. These cars are insane. I still can’t even comprehend how fast these things accelerate. I have a lot to learn, obviously, but I feel comfortable in the cars and I’m looking forward to doing it a lot more often. When that clutch starts coming in, it sets you in the seat so hard, it is surreal. I’m stunned still. It’s something very few get to experience and it’s something that I feel everyone needs to experience.”

Prock said John Force, Robert Hight and Bill Bader Jr. signed off on his license.

Prock started his nitro Funny Car licensing process April 9 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

At The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Prock, who was behind the wheel of the Advance Auto Parts Chevy Camaro driven by Courtney Force, made three runs. Couple those three runs with his two on June 25 and he received his license.

“We tried before this to get my license, but it rained out in Topeka, Kan., and we planned on running in Richmond, Va., and it rained there the Monday after the race,” Prock said. “It has been crazy, but I was glad to finally finish that thing up. It has been so long that I had been in the thing I almost forgot how to drive it. I was nervous going in there (June 25), but as soon as I got strapped in and rolled up to that water box I felt right at home again. It went smooth. I made some good, clean nice straight passes. I made some minor rookie errors, dancing the tail around a little bit, but other than that it went really good.”

As for the immediate future, Prock’s main job – building superchargers for reigning Top Fuel world champion Brittany Force dragster will take precedence.

“We are going to busy here the next couple of weeks with Epping, N.H. (July 6-8), and a week off and then the Western Swing,” Prock said. “We will not be able to do any testing between now and then, but after the Western Swing, the Norwalk (Ohio) Night Under Fire is Aug. 11. I will not race in the actual show (at Norwalk), but I’m going to make some laps before the show. I’m not sure if I will race against anybody. We will have to see how everything goes. John (Force’s) car and Robert (Hight’s) car will be there and there’s a chance I might be able to drive both. I know it would be pretty cool if I could line up next to John and Robert there.”