CHEVROLET IN NHRA
2023 DENSO NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS
SONOMA RACEWAY
SONOMA, CALIFORNIA
TEAM CHEVY RACE REPORT
JULY 30, 2023
TEAM CHEVY AND JOHN FORCE RACING FACE TRICKY TRACK IN SONOMA
- Austin Prock and Brittany Force faced Round 2 elimination after moving from Round 1 on opposite ends of the ladder, with Prock falling to Justin Ashley and B. Force to Antron Brown.
- In Funny Car, Robert Hight faced an early elimination by Ron Capps after defeating team owner and teammate John Force in Round 1.
- Securing his second career Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier, Austin Prock secured the top position on the Sonoma Nationals ladder with his Friday run of 3.704 ET at 331.36 MPH.
- Prock (Top Fuel) went provisional No. 1 qualifier Friday night after two rounds of qualifying with his pass of 3.704 ET at 331.36 MPH.
SONOMA, California (July 30, 2023) – Battling a tricky track and fluctuating water grain conditions along with tough luck, it was an early day for the Chevrolet-supported nitro teams of John Force Racing at this year’s DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
After securing his second career Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier and first for the 2023 NHRA season, Austin Prock, driver of the Montana Brands/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster, rocketed to the top spot on the ladder with his Friday pass of 3.704 ET at 331.36 MPH holding through the end of Saturday’s qualifying sessions. While going three-for-three on No. 1 qualifiers during the three stops on NHRA’s Western Swing, (Brittany Force, Top Fuel – Denver, John Force, Funny Car – Seattle, Austin Prock, Top Fuel – Sonoma), the Sonoma Nationals looked to be a promising turnaround for the team.
Prock noted after qualifying Saturday that he’s “really proud of this team, this goes out to my Montana Brand boys. These No. 1 qualifiers are hard to come by, only my second in three years. It’s all about the race team, your crew chiefs and crew outdid everyone else out here and that’s very special. This is the first No. 1 for Chris Cunningham as a Top Fuel crew chief and he and Joe Barlam are really working well together.”
Qualifying No. 9, and on the opposite side of the Sonoma Nationals ladder, Prock’s teammate Brittany Force, driver of the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster, secured her race day position facing Clay Millican in Round 1 with her Friday pass of 3.771 ET at 323.58 MPH. With both Prock and B. Force defeating their competitors in Round 1, both Top Fuel pilots found their days were done early in Round 2 after both faced elimination.
“We closed out the final race of the Western Swing here in Sonoma,” said B. Force. “John Force Racing swept No. 1 qualifiers, which is impressive. I was No. 1 in Denver, my dad was No. 1 in Seattle, and Austin was No. 1 here in Sonoma. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the job done today, and we weren’t able to defend the win from last year. We got beat in the second round, but we moved up one in the points to third and we have a week off to get this car figured out before we go to the next one in Topeka, Kansas.”
Unfortunately for Robert Hight, driver of the Cornwell Tools/AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car and teammate/team owner John Force, driver of the PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, who qualified No. 6 and No. 11 respectively, kicked off the Sunday race day competing against each other on either side of the Sonoma Raceway lanes. After Hight moved to Round 2, he faced off against defending Funny Car champion Ron Capps, but after smoking the tires at half-track, he also faced a premature ending to his Sonoma Nationals race day.
“There’s nothing I could have done (different racing against Ron Capps), Hight said. “The car smoked the tires. We’re still looking for consistency with this new clutch setup. This is the time of the year we always say we better have our act together because this crazy Countdown is coming up pretty quick. But, the good news is we head to Norwalk next weekend for the (Night Under Fire) match race and we’re going to do some testing during the day. We’re not giving up. This Cornwell car will be in the Winner’s Circle soon. The car is close, it’s very close.”
The Chevrolet Nitro and Pro Stock, teams next head to Topeka, Kan. for the 2023 Menards NHRA Nationals Presented by PetArmor at Heartland Motorsports Park Aug. 11-13, 2023. Broadcast of Sunday’s eliminations air live at 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1).
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
Austin Prock, driver of the Montana Brands/Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster for John Force Racing:
“Definitely not the Sunday this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team thought we’d have. We were really confident heading into today and after a good run in the first round bye we felt good. It was another wrong place at the wrong time situation, ran into it in Seattle against Brittany in the first round and again today against Justin Ashley in the quarterfinals. Would have beat anyone else that round. That’s drag racing. It’s sucks but we’ll be back at it in a week and a half and I’ll be chomping at the bit to get back in this hot rod. I’m proud of this team and the work they’re putting in, we’re due for another one, it’s coming.”
Brittany Force, driver of the Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pack Chevrolet Top Fuel dragster for John Force Racing:
“We closed out the final race of the Western Swing here in Sonoma. John Force Racing swept No. 1 qualifiers, which is impressive. I was No. 1 in Denver, my dad was No. 1 in Seattle, and Austin was No. 1 here in Sonoma. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the job done today, and we weren’t able to defend the win from last year. We got beat in the second round, but we moved up one in the points to third and we have a week off to get this car figured out before we go to the next one in Topeka, Kansas.”
On not notching a win just yet this season…
“It’s not a concern. We’re not lost. Our team knows what we’re doing, and it’s just been slow for us. We’ve made a lot of changes and we will be there for the final six.”
Robert Hight, driver of the Cornwell Tools/AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car for John Force Racing:
“It was a tough weekend. Didn’t qualify great but the track was difficult. Glad NHRA was able to get it evened out today but disappointed we weren’t able to take advantage of it. Jimmy Prock and this Cornwell Tools team are working hard. It’ll come. We just need to keep putting the work in and get that consistency. We’ve got several races before the Countdown and a lot can happen in those races. We’ll just have to see. It was a great crowd out here, this is my hometown track so it was nice to have family here, just sorry we couldn’t get the job done.”
John Force, driver of the PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car for John Force Racing:
“Never ideal to be racing Robert (Hight) in the other lane unless it’s in the finals. It’s disappointing but at least it guaranteed one of us would be in the second round. Been a challenging couple of races but we’ll be okay. Just a couple of races left until the Countdown, so we’ll move on to the next one and hope for better.”
Round 1 Recap:
Top Fuel:
No. 1 Austin Prock races to a run of 3.742 ET at 330.72 MPH on a bye run.
No. 9 Brittany Force defeated No. 6 Clay Millican with her pass of 3.703 ET at 334.57 MPH to Millican’s 3.786 ET at 301.07 MPH.
Funny Car:
No. 8 Robert Hight defeated No. 11 John Force with his pass of 3.904 ET at 331.53 MPH to J. Force’s 4.845 ET at 163.77 MPH after getting out of the groove and losing traction.
Round 2 Recap:
Top Fuel:
B. Force is defeated by Antron Brown after smoking the tires on her run.
A. Prock is defeated by Justin Ashley after Ashley goes 3.740 ET at 327.03 MPH to Prock’s 3.761 ET at 329.10 MPH.
Funny Car:
Hight is defeated by Ron Capps after smoking the tires at half-track to Capps’ 4.018 ET at 316.90 MPH run.
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