CHEVROLET IN NHRA
2024 AMALIE MOTOR OIL NHRA GATORNATIONALS
GAINESVILLE RACEWAY
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA
TEAM CHEVY RACE REPORT
MARCH 10, 2024
AUSTIN PROCK TAKES HIS CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS TO THE GATORNATIONALS FINALS IN HIS FIRST NHRA FUNNY CAR RACE
Notes:
- Austin Prock, in his first NHRA Funny Car event, took his Cornwell Tools Chevy Camaro SS Funny Car to the final round.
- Prock defeated John Smith in Round 1 with his pass of 4.357 seconds E.T. at 293.92 mph after Smith lost a cylinder at half-track.
- Defeated team owner and teammate John Force, driver of the PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, in a great side-by-side drag race. Prock posted a run of 3.899-seconds E.T. at 332.43 mph to Force’s 3.913-second E.T 328.46 mph
- In the semifinal, Prock defeated Chad Green to earn his spot in the final round with his run of 3.871 seconds at 334.40 mph to Green’s 4.053 seconds E.T. at 306.88 mph.
- Prock fell to JR Todd in the final round after smoking the tires right on the starting line to Todd’s 3.889 seconds E.T 329.10 mph.
- Austin Prock is first driver in the history of NHRA Funny Car to score the No. 1 qualifier award in their first event.
- Brittany Force, who went to the finals on Saturday’s CarQuest Top Fuel Callout race, was eliminated in Round 1 when she smoked the tires on the starting line against Billy Torrence.
- Erica Enders scored her 49th career national win with a final round win over Cristian Quadra with a run of 6.494 seconds E.T at 211.93 mph. Today’s win was her first Wally trophy from the NHRA Gatornationals.
- Jeff Strickland defeated Jay Storey to win in Stock Eliminator with his Chevrolet COPO Camaro on a 10.543-second E.T. run at 90.68 mph.
- After four qualifying sessions that opened the event weekend on Friday, Austin Prock, driver of the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, drove to his first No. 1 qualifier of NHRA Funny Car competition. Tuned by his father Jimmy and brother Thomas, Prock earned the top spot on the leaderboard with his Q2 pass of 3.820 seconds E.T. at 334.65 mph.
- Prock’s strong qualifying run Friday evening of Q2 set the Gainesville Raceway track record, rocketing him to his fourth career NHRA No. 1 qualifier (three previously came in Top Fuel).
- With her strong run and picking up where she left off last season, Enders took the No. 1 qualifying spot at Gainesville with her Q2 pass of 6.550 seconds E.T. at 207.88 mph. Enders’ No. 1 qualifier in Gainesville is her 35th of her career.
Quotes:
AUSTIN PROCK, DRIVER OF THE CORNWELL TOOLS CHEVROLET CAMARO SS FUNNY CAR:
“There should be nothing to hang our heads about. We all are competitors. It definitely is frustrating not to get the job done. We had an outstanding car all weekend. I mean, we were almost flawless. I’m just really proud of the team. Like I said, we obviously would have liked to get the job done. But everyone did a hell of a job this weekend. This thing was flying. And this place is not easy to drive a Funny Car on. I had my hands full for the weekend and I definitely have some learning to do, but I’m trying to catch on as quick as I can. And hopefully, Pomona will treat us a little bit better.”
“I’m looking forward to Pomona. If we can compete like we did this weekend, we’ll have an honest shot at winning a handful of Wally’s this year, so I’m really proud and can’t wait to get to Pomona.”
JOHN FORCE, DRIVER OF THE PEAK ANTIFREEZE & COOLANT CHEVROLET CAMARO SS FUNNY CAR:
“For a kid being in a dragster for a couple of years, but he’s (Austin Prock) been around his whole life and the pressure. Pressure never bothers him. With Funny Car, he’s picked up on it real quick and made a lot of test runs but we’re very proud of him. Robert is very proud of him and his family. The kid didn’t get the win but he got the job done. He (Prock) took me out so I want to win, of course, and I wanted to do well for PEAK and Chevrolet, but somedays it doesn’t happen. Brittany (Force) has got a whole new program over there with (David) Grubnic and (John) Collins and he’s working out good. I can’t complain. It was a good kickoff for the season.”
Up Next:
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series heads west next to In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip for the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, March 22-24, 2024. Friday’s qualifying airs Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), with Saturday’s qualifying also airing on FS1 Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Sunday’s eliminations wrap up the weekend, with finals airing at 7 p.m. ET. All sessions from Pomona, Calif. air with NHRA on FOX on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Coverage streams live throughout the weekend on NHRA.tv, and is available via AppleTV, Android TV, and Roku devices.
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