NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

It’s his rookie year, and Austin Prock is learning his lessons at a fast clip. Within a matter of days he went from just getting his Top Fuel license to a surprise entrant at the season-opening Winternationals.

His first head-to-head race was against his teammate, 2017 world champ Brittany Force, and he beat her in a pedaling battle. Two weeks later, the throttle stuck on a qualifying pass in Phoenix, but he kept his cool and got the car stopped. Three weeks ago he ran his first four-wide race n Las Vegas and somehow blocked out all of the distractions and cut a .025 light in the first round. Two weeks ago in Houston, he had his first head-to-head race with rookie rival Jordan Vandergriff, and beat him convincingly.

No nerves here. The kid was built for this kind of stuff. It’s evident when he’s behind the wheel of his Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster or behind the microphone for the numerous inevitable interviews he faces at each race.

“Pomona was a blur, and it was definitely nerve-racking; Q1 was the first time I ever went to the finish line and went over 300 mph. We got a round win over the champ, Brittany Force, in a pedalfest and the parachutes didn’t come out at the other end but I got it stopped at the shortest shutdown on the circuit.

“[The four-wide race in] Vegas was a little confusing the first time. Driving one of these cars with 11,0000 horsepower, you have a lot on your mind already and then to have to look at three other staging bulbs you need to make sure you know which lane you’re in. My brother rolls me into the staging beams every run and throws me up a number signal to just ensure that I know what lane I’m in. Other than that, you go up and do the same thing, whether it’s two-wide or four-wide. You do your same routine and try to drill that amber bulb.”

Austin is surrounded by family at every turn, and excels with their support. Although his grandfather, 1970s Funny Car hero Tom Prock, doesn’t come to every race, he’s following his progress closely. His father, Jimmy, of course, is right by his side as the tuner for his teammate, Robert Hight.

“To race at this level is cool on its own, but when you get to do it with your family all out here on top of that, it’s even cooler,” he said. “My dad is right there under the same umbrella, my mom is out here every weekend, my brother Sam works on my car and my other brother Thomas, who just moved down here [to Charlotte] to be a design engineer for Stewart-Haas, actually designed the chassis I’m driving now; he built all of the fixturing and everything. It’s very cool to drive his piece down the racetrack and it handles wonderfully and makes my job a lot easier.”

Although Vandergriff, who is expected to be Prock’s greatest rival for the Auto Club Road to the Future award, is not running this weekend, it’s clear that the rivalry also drives him to excel. He won a reaction-time contest with him earlier this year, forcing Vandergriff to don an Austin Prock t-shirt as his penance. And after Prock beat him in round one in Houston, Vandergriff’s payout was having to wipe Prock’s tires in round two.

“I love racing Jordan,” he said. “We’re pretty good buddies outside the racetrack. On the racetrack we’re both gunning for rookie of the year and I want to beat that kid every time I line up against him. It was real satisfying last weekend in Houston to beat him. I left on him and outran him with low e.t. of the round. I don’t think we could have done it with any more style."

[For the record, “that kid” is technically exactly six months older than Prock.]

“I feel like I’m going a good job," Prock assessed humbly. "I’m hanging with all of these cats and hopefully I can keep beating up on them. The car continues to run better; I’m driving better each and every weekend. I think I’m leading the class in reaction time and looking to go three rounds here.”