- DATE OF BIRTH: August 21, 1995
- HOMETOWN: Lansing, MI
- CAREER TF WINS: 1
- CAREER BEST ELAPSE TIME: 3.699 seconds
- CAREER BEST SPEED: 334.15 mph
- AWARDS: 2019 Auto Club Road to the Future Award (NHRA Rookie of the Year), 2014 STARS National Pavement champion
Austin Prock made his long-awaited return to the seat of his Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster in the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing season. After John Force Racing took a step back in 2020 due to the pandemic, Prock worked on the crew of Robert Hight’s Funny Car team under his father, crew chief Jimmy Prock, in 2021 before continuing his dream of driving professionally. Prock begins his second year of full-time driving duties with one national event win from his rookie season.
Prock made his professional drag racing debut at the 2019 season opening Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. where he earned his first career round win, the Top Fuel standout continued to impress throughout the season building his resume with competitive passes in the .70s and .80s before powering Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster to the winner’s circle for the first time at the Northwest Nationals in Seattle, Wash. He went on to clinch a spot in the Countdown to the Championship at the U.S. Nationals and was the only rookie in the nitro categories to do so. At the AAA Texas FallNationals Prock piloted his 11,000-horsepower machine to a career best elapsed time of 3.688-seconds and top speed of 334.40 mph.
Prock finished 2019 eighth in the points standings with one win, five semifinal appearances and most notably the 2019 Auto Club Road to the Future award, the NHRA’s rookie of the year award.
Before climbing into the seat of his Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist hot rod and making his dreams a reality, Prock first got behind the wheel of a race car at age 10. He collected his first race win before he was 12 years old and in 2012, was named the National Pavement Midget Rookie of the Year. A year later he was awarded the Bob Tattersall Hard Charger of the Year. In 2014, his first year racing a complete schedule, Prock was the STARS National Pavement Midget Champion after winning four races. Following his championship year, he entered into the world of Dirt Sprint Cars and picked up a win in his seventh start.
Prock finished his circle track career having entered 139 races with 27 wins and 84 top five finishes.
Coming up through the ranks, Prock had the opportunity to race out of the shop of three-time NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart. It gave him the opportunity to learn from some of the most well respected open-wheel crew chiefs and mechanics and showed the young racer what it takes to be a championship caliber driver and work on a top tier team.
While he worked his way up racing circle track, Prock’s roots and end goal were always in drag racing. Prock is the grandson of former NHRA driver Tom Prock and the son of world champion tuner Jimmy Prock who currently crew chiefs the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car for John Force Racing’s two-time world champion Robert Hight.
In 2017 the perfect opportunity presented itself when he was offered the chance to join the family business as part of the John Force Racing driver development program. His years of experience both on track and in the garages made the move almost seamless for the young driver.
Prock started his career in drag racing as a member of Courtney Force’s Funny Car team and then moved to working on super-chargers for Brittany Force and her Top Fuel dragster team. Throughout his time with John Force Racing, Prock had been working his way to being the next driver for the legendary team.
As the newest addition to John Force Racing’s Next Generation initiative, Prock took his first pass down a dragstrip in Fontana, Calif., in April 2017 when he was licensed in a Super Comp dragster through Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School, the same drag racing school from which world champions Robert Hight and Brittany Force as well as Courtney Force, Eric Medlen and even Force family matriarch Laurie Force earned their licenses. In June 2017, he was licensed in an Alcohol dragster in Indianapolis with Anthony Dicero and raced in one regional event in the Alcohol dragster category at Bowling Green, Ken., in August. He was the No. 2 qualifier and made it to the semifinals.
Prock made his first passes in a Nitro Funny Car in April 2018 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and, in June 2018, Prock earned his Nitro Funny Car license at Summit Racing Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
In addition to his passion for racing, Prock earned his culinary arts degree from the Art Institute of Indianapolis while on the road with the team. Cooking was always a hobby for Prock, he was helping the John Force Racing team chef at the age of 10 while his dad was a crew chief.