Force, Prock, Anderson & Herrera hold on as No. 1 qualifier at Texas NHRA FallNationals

Force picks up 50th career No. 1 qualifier, Prock ties John Force for most No. 1 spots in a single season in Funny Car history

ENNIS, TX – October 13, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Two-time Top Fuel world champion Brittany Force clinched her 50th career No. 1 qualifier on Saturday at Texas Motorplex, hanging on to the top position at the 39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals.

Austin Prock (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 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.

Force’s run of 3.667-seconds at 338.19 mph from Friday in her 11,000-horsepower HendrickCars.com/Chevrolet dragster wasn’t challenged on Saturday, handing the 16-time event winner her fourth No. 1 qualifier of the year. She will open eliminations against Spencer Hyde, looking to pick up her first victory since the 2022 season. Force was thrilled to earn a 50th career No. 1 qualifier, but her focus remains on going four rounds on Sunday.

“Just to hear ‘50,’ that’s such a big achievement,” Force said. “It’s a big achievement by all of John Force Racing. It’s something I’m very proud of. It seems like an impossible number and to have that in my career, to be able to accomplish that is huge and something I’m very proud of. The cool thing is, it was a collective thing. It was done with so many different teams and crew chiefs that I’ll always look up to. They all taught me things along the way that I still use to this day. I’m very thankful to them that they’re part of my career and getting that 50.

“To see three (No. 1s) in the last (five) races, it shows that this team is gaining momentum and that we’re moving in the right direction. We’re starting to move on to something positive. But ultimately, we want to perform well on Sunday.”

Shawn Reed qualified second with a 3.676 at 330.71 and Texan Steve Torrence took third thanks to his pass of 3.721 at 332.03. Points leader Antron Brown qualified fifth and will face off with Justin Ashley, who is 34 points behind in second, in a must-see opening round.

In Funny Car, Prock matched his boss and legendary Funny Car driver John Force for the most No. 1 qualifiers in a single season in class history, earning his 13th No. 1 spot of the 2024 season when Friday’s track-record run of 3.813 at 333.09 in his 11,000-horsepower…