DI 30 UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2015 Vincent Nobile , Leah Pruett , Justen Moser , Kirk Wolf , Mark Savage , Mia Tedesco , Rickie Jones , Megan Fessel Schumacher , Cameron Ferré , Matt Sackman , Daniel Pharris , Preston Tanner , Audrey Worm , Steven Whiteley , Jonnie Lindberg , Kyle Dvorak , Tera Wendland-Graves , Jared Johnston , Donovan Stott , Brittany Force , Tyler Crossnoe , Drew Skillman , Ashley Sanford , John Paul Gutierrez , Jon Schaffer , PJ North , Corey Michalek , Jimmy Sackuvich , Lizzy Musi and Troy Coughlin Jr .

DI 30 UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2016 Jonnie Lindberg , Dan Ferguson , Jason Gardner , Bronson Dunne , Jason Hamstra , Cory Reed , Sarah Edwards , Alex Hays , Gage Burch , Amanda Boicesco , Caleb Cox , Kevin Brannon , Ryan Rakestraw , Ty Tutterow , Cody Medeisis , Justin Lamb , Krista Baldwin , Chuck Grospitch , Jimmy Daniels , Jeff Pierce , Joe Albrecht , Shane Westerfield , Christopher Menapace , Alex Laughlin , Brandon Seraphine , Doug Foley Jr ., Alex Taylor , Justin Kirk , Megan Meyer and Trevor Larson .

DI 30 UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2017 LE Tonglet , Matt Bynum , Courtney Force , Ray Miller III , Zach Sackman , Nathan Vanbeek , Lyle Barnett , Daniel McKune , Cade Poe , Daniel Wilkerson , Drew Austin , Austin Williams , Robert Bauer III , David “ Bird ” Jones , Jamie Hancock , Tanner Gray , Bob Mandell II , Johnny Pluchino , Dillon Voss , Cory Voss , Johnny Ezell , Blake Housley , Dennis Klangebo , Michael Recchia Jr ., Andrew Johnson , Tylor Miller , Justin Ashley , Jordan Grunwald , Chase Copeland and Aaron Stanfield .

DI 30 UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2018 Blake Alexander , Hector Arana Jr ., Cory Gulitti , Jordan Ensslin , Matthew DeYoung , Tyler Bohannon , Cam Clark , Jake Simmons , Brandon Greco , Devin Isenhower , Nicole Liberty , Kyle Lang , Cole Rokosky , Madyson Ayesh , Jimmy Plimpton Jr ., Justin Hutto , Santo Rapisarda Jr ., Santino Rapisarda , Jake Howard , Sadie Glenn , Daniel Young , Edmond Ellison , Caleb Ellison , Jake Sanders , Rachel Meyer , Camrie Caruso , Mike Decker III , Andy Schmall , Ashley Pritchett , Charles Myers , Kris Whitfield , Marina Anderson

DI 30 UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2019 Matt Dadas , Gage Burch , Austin Prock , Haley James , Patrick Miller , Justin Carmack , Chase Freeman , DJ McCain , Ryan McCain , Jordan Vandergriff , Kellan Farmer , Cody Lane , Justin Jones , Bobby Ince Jr ., Joey Haas , Preston Pennington , Chris Garner-Jones , Allie Bland , Cody Bland , Julie Nataas , Victor Alvarez , John Dougherty , Kyle Bigley , Hunter Patton , Blake Copson , Cole Cummings , Mike Mullaney , Tricia Musi , Matthew Lunsford , Will Smith , Kyle Cultrera , Joe Hunt

DI 30 UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2021 Dallas Glenn , Madison and Macie Gordon , Darian Boesch , Taylor Iacono , Jordan Fisher , Mark Benston Jr ., Joey Oksas , Justin Swanstrom , Nick Schroeder , Kyle Christ , Joey Gladstone , Marques Hatton , Brian Inouye , William Garner , Christopher Dodd , Gavin Carter , Billy Kleinspehn , Payton Cusimano , Marko Perivolaris , Courtney Paulshock , Buddy Perkinson , Blake Peavler , Luke Fath , Nick Taylor , Rylan McClaskey , Spencer Hyde , JoAnna Iacobelli , Dylan Cromwell , Zach Jones

■ WHILE HIS brother gets most of the headlines in the driver ’ s seat , Thomas Prock is plenty content providing his immense knowledge behind-the-scenes .

The 29-year-old Prock is an up-and-coming engineering mind in drag racing , currently working as an engineer for John Force Racing . That comes after a three-year stint at Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR , where Prock learned all about innovation as an engineer for the standout team .

He ’ s brought those ideas to JFR and remains dedicated to making a difference with ingenuity when it comes to drag racing engineering .

“ I love the performance side of it and how we ’ re able to get a car to go as fast as we did ,” Prock says . “ These nitro cars are such a mystery and helping solve the problems is really gratifying . There ’ s still so many unknown things that go on in these cars , so being able to keep picking away at it is really cool .”

That ’ s always been his passion , working on the cars while his brother , Austin , drives them . But it ’ s been the perfect balance for both , and it ’ s given Thomas the chance to work alongside his father , standout crew chief Jimmy Prock , in the process .

He studied mechanical engineering at IUPUI before working as a design engineer and CNC programmer at JFR in 2017 . Prock moved to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019 , noting it was too good of an opportunity to pass up .

“ That was a really neat opportunity and it really set me up to come back [ to JFR ] and be a little more helpful and hands-on ,” Prock says . “ There ’ s a lot more engineering there and it was really like going to school again .”

But the pull and appeal of drag racing was always stronger , and Prock returned to JFR before the start of this season . He grew up around the sport , absorbing every piece of knowledge he could from the likes of his father , Austin Coil , Dean Antonelli and others , and drag racing is always where he felt he belonged .

The time in NASCAR gave him a bigger knowledge base that he ’ s been able to utilize in working with the crew chiefs on the four-car team at JFR , and he ’ s treasured the moments of being able to learn from guys like David Grubnic on Brittany Force ’ s dragster , and Joe Barlam and Rahn Tobler on his brother ’ s car during the 2022 season . He would eventually love to learn how to run a Funny Car or Top Fuel dragster , but the 29-year-old Prock has enjoyed every moment of a memorable year .

“ The people are great and there ’ s more of a camaraderie in drag racing ,” Prock says . “ It ’ s like family and from a racing standpoint , I love the instant gratification of watching the car run . The car does all the talking for you , too . It ’ s purely a performance game and I love that feeling of watching the scoreboard light up . There ’ s just something about it that really appeals to me .” – RYAN MURRAY DI

140 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 179