John Force Racing teams reach NHRA Finals with momentum
POMONA — It's been a rough year for the John Force Racing team in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
As the series heads to the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at Pomona Dragstrip this weekend, the John Force Racing team has reasons to reflect and reasons to rejoice. John Force was back with his drivers and teams two weeks ago for the races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first time since his racing accident in June left him with a severe brain injury.
Force, the face of the team and the face of the series for nearly 40 years as a 16-time NHRA champion, was in a devastating crash in Richmond, Virginia, and spent months in hospitals and trauma centers recovering.
The drivers missed races. The team spent more time with Force in hospitals than at race tracks for a while. It took Force, 75, several weeks before going to his home in Yorba Linda to recover.
Through the tough times, two of the drivers for John Force Racing found reasons to celebrate. His daughter, Brittany Force, a Top Fuel driver in the NHRA series, won her first race in more than two years in Las Vegas.
Austin Prock, a Funny Car driver for John Force Racing, also won in Las Vegas and is closing in on his first championship in the division.
Brittany Force said after the races in Las Vegas it was "one of the biggest wins in our camp."
Prock said it's been a bit of a double-edged sword racing this year.
"We've had the emotions of going through John's accident, which was a terrible time in the season. We've also had so much success. It's been like a little bit of both. Things were really good this year and things were really bad," Prock said.
"You just gotta roll with the punches. Life's difficult sometimes. We just had to manage the best we could. I felt it made all of us a little bit stronger."
Prock won for the eighth time in Funny Car this season. All he needs to do is make a successful qualifying run in Pomona to clinch the Funny Car championship, the first of his career.
"The championship, it's something big to celebrate with what we've gone through," Prock said.
"The team's still holding together and getting the job done. I think that's something to be proud about."
Brittany Force said having her dad at the track in Las Vegas watching her win for the first time in two years was a special moment.
"Having my dad here for the first time since his crash, it wasn't pressure, it was more heart behind every single person on the team," Brittany Force said Monday after the races in Las Vegas. "We always want to come out here and win, but with him being here this weekend, after everything he's been through, there was definitely more heart behind it. We wanted to get him in that winner's circle."
It was the 17th career win in Top Fuel for Brittany Force and her first win since the fall races in Las Vegas in 2022.
"We've been piecing this together since the Countdown began and we were seeing this progress with No. 1 qualifiers and going rounds on race day. We knew it was coming," Brittany Force said. "We knew we were closing in on it and we were getting close, and I had a good feeling about Vegas. We've been successful here in the past, and it's one of my favorite tracks on the circuit and my whole family was here."
"My dad was here. I just had a good feeling about it, and to come here and win, our team needed that. We've always stayed positive, always stayed confident, but it does hurt when you go two seasons without winning."
The John Force Racing teams have some momentum coming into the NHRA Finals in Pomona. For Prock, it will be a fitting end to a rewarding, albeit challenging, season.
"I knew if I got in the race car and I did a decent job driving it, we were going to have a chance at winning a championship," Prock said. "All year long they've been lights out. It's been a lot of fun driving this race car and learning. It's definitely been special. They've busted their tails and they've earned this."
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series will feature two qualifying rounds at 1 and 3:30 p.m. Friday, with the final two rounds of qualifying at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday.
Television coverage includes qualifying on FS1 at 7 a.m. Sunday and then live eliminations on FS1 at 1 p.m. Sunday.
