AUSTIN PROCK
OR TWO-TIME and defending NHRA Funny Car champion Austin Prock, the final round of the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals presented by JEGS at Maryland International Raceway nearly came apart before he ever fired the engine.
After a routine servicing of the car following the semifinals, things appeared to unravel as the Tasca Racing team rolled their PPG Ford Mustang to the staging lanes for their first final-round appearance in 2026.
“ It was chaotic. [ The ] parachute box falls off the right rear corner of the body. You know, mad panic trying to get that in there,” says Prock.“ Last-minute clutch calls … I ended up getting suited up outside the Expedition in the pits, got bolted in the car, and we rolled up there about 65 miles an hour on the tow rope and tossed it into the water box.”
With Jack Beckman’ s John Force Racing PEAK Chevrolet Camaro waiting in the other lane, Prock admits his father, crew chief Jimmy Prock, couldn’ t even make all his normal final adjustments. With no chalk on the ground to line the car up, Prock’ s brother Sam – typically the quiet one, according to Austin – stepped up.
“ We fire this thing up, my brother Thomas gets on the radio, he goes,‘ We’ re gonna burnout
inside and run an outside line,’” Prock recalls.“ Then he goes,‘ Scratch that, we’ re going back to plan A.’ I’ m rolling into the water box and my brother Sam pushes Thomas out of the way and says,‘ No, we’ re doing the burnout here, and we’ re going to run a way inside line.’ Sam’ s hanging his toe out there while we’ re backing the race car up. He makes this last-minute moonshot call saying the racetrack’ s better way inside. We ended up hitting that line and the thing hauled ass.
“ Sam, he’ s not really one to voice his opinion very much,” adds Prock.“ He’ s very intelligent, but he showed up and stood out when it counted. I really give him a lot of credit for getting that win.”
Despite the chaos, Prock says he was in a really good space mentally going into the final round,
Showcasing the PPG colors on his Tasca Racing Ford Mustang, Prock took down Matt Hagan, Spencer Hyde, Ron Capps, and Jack Beckman on his way to earning his first Wally of 2026.
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