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A dominant, record-setting season made for an incredible debut in the Funny Car ranks for Austin Prock, who rolled to his first career NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series world championship.

The John Force Racing team is hardly standing pat, though, even after winning eight races, qualifying No. 1 a Funny Car-record 15 times, and making the fastest run in NHRA history with a blast of 341.68 mph at the finale in Pomona.

Heading into this weekend’s 56th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway to open the 2025 NHRA season, Prock and his team, led by his father, Jimmy, and brother, Thomas, are going full speed ahead in trying to make their Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS even better.

“There’s always room to improve,” Prock said. “The way I’ve always looked at it, if you lose that hunger and intensity to do better, that’s your sign to hang it up. We’re always pushing to innovate and make things better and relay that to the track. Coming into the season, we’ll have a totally different package. My dad and this team have done things to try and make the car better, and we’re going in the right direction.

“It’s going to be exciting to go out there and try to defend our title. We’ve got the car and the opportunity to try and go back-to-back. Hopefully, we can have a hot start in Gainesville and carry that momentum throughout the year.”

In 2024, Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), J.R. Todd (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock), and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all won the Gatornationals to open the year. It marked the first double-up victory for Kalitta Motorsports, while six-time world champ Enders won the historic race for the first time. This year’s race will again be broadcast on FS1, including eliminations at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 9.

The first round of the Right Trailers NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout, which features eight Top Fuel standouts in a one-day, big-money bonus race, takes place on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. ET, and the semifinals take place at 2:20 p.m. The finals are slated for 3:30 p.m. A special Callout broadcast will air at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday on FS1.

Prock’s 91���� Funny Car debut came last year in Gainesville, and he made a strong impression, qualifying No. 1 and advancing to the final round. His first Funny Car victory came weeks later, and he never looked back, putting together a spectacular season.

But after a season that included 12 final rounds, he knows everyone in the star-studded class will be attempting to take him down. That includes Jack Beckman, who is driving for John Force this year, Matt Hagan, Ron Capps, Todd, and Bob Tasca III.

First up, though, Prock wants to win in Gainesville for the first time. A win at one of the biggest races on the NHRA tour would be meaningful, especially as he chases the new regular-season championship.

“Since they started the Countdown [to the Championship] format, I always thought there should be a regular-season championship and a reward for running hard all year,” Prock said. “It changes the outlook for how you run, and I think teams will be on kill all season long, which will create some great regular-season racing.

“Gainesville always has had a special place in my heart, and it would be really cool to win here for the Prock family. My grandfather [Tom] made it to the final round in 1975 and lost to [Don] Prudhomme, so to win here would be really special.”

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying features two rounds at 2 and 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday, March 7, and the final two qualifying rounds on Saturday, March 8 at 12:30 and 3 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 9. Gainesville Raceway will also continue to give fans a memorable experience, including free general parking at the state-of-the-art facility.
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