NHRA’s Funny Car competition Austin Prock thus rose to the top position on Saturday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park beating provisional top spot at the 70th annual Toyota NHRA U S Nationals.
Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and John Hall (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers in the 14th of 20 races of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Prock did the fastest time during both sessions of qualifications and did the overall best time of the weekend which was 3. 855s at 328. Briscoe set a fastest speed of 38mph during the race with his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS. If that is the case, which seems very possible, Prock will achieve his goal of winning the U. S. Nationals for the first time and have his 10th No. 1 qualifier of the season in the first 14 races of the 2024 season.
“So far, it has been an outstanding weekend,” Prock said. “Everyone has just been enjoying themselves in this Cornwell Tools pit this weekend, and I guess we have a good outlook on the U. S. Nationals and entering the playoffs. We have really had a thrilling weekend so far, and to seal off that Mission #2Fast2Tasty Champion-at-large here means a great deal about this race team as well as the reliability of this racecar with the work that this team is doing.
“Life has its highs and lows, but after [Brainerd], I think I really have a whole new attitude and a new mindset that cannot be disturbed at all. I have been murdering the Christmas Tree this weekend which makes me really happy and the efforts that I have been putting in are paying off. Its a great start of the week I don’t know how else to say it. I am just so proud of my family and this Corn
Bob Tasca moved to the second place after completing it in 3. 871s at 336. 26 miles per hour and Jack Beckman is in third place after three runs. 877s at 329. 10mph.
Choices also made for the first shoot out of the Pep Boys Funny Car All-Star Callout. Tasca picked Cruz Pedregon as his first-round opponent, Ron Capps choosing Paul Lee and Matt Hagan choosing Alexis DeJoria, which made J. R. Todd and Chad Green the last of the first round pairs.
After a successful launch of her weekend campaign, Top Fuel’s Brittany Force also laid down a better run than what was provided on Friday and remained as the provisional number one qualifier with the pass of 3. 693s at 333. 1 08mph in her Chevrolet Accessories dragster. Coming into Indy 10th in points and needing a big weekend, Force has accomplished that, while also netting some valuable qualifying bonus points in the process. She is thereby perfectly positioned to clinch her second top qualifier for the year and fourth eight in her career.
“There is a lot to play for this weekend and to be able to progress and up our game – our No. 1 position was taken from us in Q2 and we knew we had to step it up, that was already David Grubnic’s plan so to go from a 0. 74s to a 0. 69s is great for this team,” Force said. We were very proud of that and very happy they had the courage tofinally change the status quo. We’re moving ahead, and we’re going to attempt to reach for as many points as we can get.
“There is a lot on the line this weekend, so to be able to improve and step up – our No. 1 spot was taken from us in Q2, and we knew we had to step it up,” Force said Grubnic’s plan earlier: “That was already David Grubnic’s plan, so to go from a 0. 74s to a 0. 69s was pretty awesome for this team “We are extremely pleased with that and we are glad. ” We’re moving ahead and we’re going to try and get as many points as possible we can lay our hands on.
“It is starting to gather a pace for the entire team We are eager to be here; it is the biggest race of the season We are standing tenth here and there is so much coming this weekend, so much pressure, but three good runs down the race track just charges us that much more We are eager to be here but we are waiting to get to Monday. ”
Tony Stewart also did a good job as well, the driver gained two positions and finished the race on the second place with the pass of 3. 707s at 331. 03 mph followed by Ross Zo396,000 with 4, Seth Reindl is fourth with a 3. 716s at 332. 67mph.
Greg Anderson thought there was more in his car and that played out on Saturday at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park as he continued to make a move, registering a 6. 588s at 206. 20mph in his HendrickCars. com Chevrolet Camaro. makes it two days in the No. 1 spot and, really, there was much for the five-time champion to appreciate. The U. S. Nationals seven time champion Anderson achieved the quickest run during both sessions of Saturday putting him in steady mode to secure his fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season.
“I knew if we didn’t do something like that, we wouldn’t be No. 1,” Anderson said. What I can say about the guys is that they did a fantastic job. ” It’s higher than that, my car was No. 1 to 60-foot, I didn’t quite expect that, and that’s what got us the provisional pole. You have to make nothing go wrong for you to secure the No 1 spot and win rounds anymore. We did a great job but we’re only halfway through the weekend, still have another whole day of qualifying left and it looks like tomorrow is going to be a tick better again.
“The pole is not safe. With all due respect, you will have to do a better job again tomorrow because everybody is closing in on me and anybody can get that pole. Some people are ready to eat me alive, no doubts about that.
However we are three for three so far, it’s going to be quite a nice gain for us if we can achieve five for five in the qualirying session and take a good momentum to Monday. Erica Enders stayed in the second place but had a much better time with 6. 11mph, while Jerry Tucker nearly dipped into the 6. 50s as well, moving to third with a 6.
Pro Stock Motorcycle saw Matt Smith Racing maintain its form at Indy; and John Hall shifted six places up to No. 1 with an ET run of 6. He later took his Denso Auto Parts Buell and was able to hit a top speed of 76mph. On Saturday, Hall made the best run of the two sessions putting him in a good stead to score his first career number one qualifier.
Hall is a previous winner of the U. S. Nationals and does not need anyone to tell her what winning in this race entails. “Well, in this kind of weather, I consider that 6. 83s is quite impressive,” Hall commented.
“Usually, the one from the Friday would have been the fastest, but it was hot yesterday We have had the chance to make itm up today. ” I was in the same position back in 2013, but this time I am more confident than ever, and that, as they say, is the one thing you need in this sport.
This is the biggest race of the year and the one you really want. We all want to win all.
Matt Smith is second after the sixth round. 836s at 199. Only few ticks behind in fourth was Moran, who recorded 35mph, then just ahead of Jonathan, Gaige Herrera managing to climb up to the third place after posting a 6. 850s at 196. 64mph.
Final qualifying continues at 12 p. m. ET on Sunday at the Toyota NHRA U. S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
