Prock, B. Force, Anderson & Herrera roll to Provisional No. 1 Spots at Texas NHRA FallNationals

ENNIS, TX – October 12, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Funny Car points leader Austin Prock made the quickest Funny Car run in seven years on Friday at Texas Motorplex, setting the track record and taking the provisional No. 1 spot for John Force Racing at the 39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals.

Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 18th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season and the fourth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

A special “Friday Night Live” meant more than $40,000 in bonus money on the line as well. The low qualifier under the lights on Friday night handed the Top Fuel and Funny Car stars $15,000 each in bonus money, with $7,500 going to the quickest qualifier in Pro Stock and $5,000 in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Prock left no doubt who would get the $15,000 bonus money in Funny Car, as he went a blistering 3.813-seconds at 333.09 mph in his 11,000-horsepower AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS, eclipsing the track record by a huge margin and making the quickest run in Funny Car since 2017. If it holds, Prock would earn his 13th No. 1 spot of the season, which would tie him with John Force for the most No. 1 qualifiers in a single season in Funny Car history.

“I was definitely jacked up for this one,” Prock said. “I knew the conditions were there and this AAA team was going to push. I’m really proud of them. This track is really difficult to drive, especially at night, [but] I stood on the gas and felt like I was pretty centered up. I think I got a little close to the center line, but it was still a pretty great run. I’m looking forward to getting back to the pit and scoping it out and seeing what I can learn from that.

“We’re always on kill, I would say, but we know we have to be at our absolute best these last three races to try to wrap this deal up. We’ve put a lot of hard work in this year, but three races, that’s a long way to go in this Countdown. We have to keep making smart decisions, play off our notebook, and try to do the best we can and see how everything plays out.”

Defending event winner and reigning world champion Matt Hagan is second after a run of 3.823 at 335.20 and Jack Beckman, who is second in points, was right behind with a pass of 3.825 at 331.49.

In Top Fuel, Brittany Force made it a John Force Racing bonus double-up on Friday,…