Austin Prock will join John and Brittany Force, along with Robert Hight in fielding a car this NHRA season.
John Force Racing will look quite a lot as it did in 2019, with the 16-time NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion John Force joined by son-in-law and three-time titleholder Robert Hight in Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Cars, while 2017 Top Fuel champion and runner-up in 2021, Brittany Force, gets her “wing man” back when Austin Prock returns to drive a dragster for the team.
After sitting out the 2020 COVID-affected NHRA season, JFR returned as a three-car entity in 2021, with John and Brittany Force, together with Robert Hight conducting the driving chores. Without proper representation for Prock, the young driver was left to perform mechanical chores for the team, including being the back-up guy for Hight, as his father Jimmy tuned the 2019 Funny Car champ to an uncharacteristic eighth place result in last year’s standings. John Force finished fifth.
The 154-race-winning John Force continues to have support from both PEAK Antifreeze and BlueDEF PLATINUM for his Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car. For his 47th year driving in NHRA competition, Force’s son-in-law Danny Hood continues as lead crew chief with assistance from Tim Fabrisi. BlueDEF will back Force for the first 10 races of the season while PEAK takes over for the remainder of the 22-race campaign.
Brittany Force gave eventual four-time-consecutive champion Steve Torrence a run for the 2021 title but came up short last year, delivering a single race win and a career-best 12 No. 1 qualifiers. This season, she will again have the supreme talents of former Top Fuel driver David Grubnic, together with Mac Savage, adjusting her Chevy’s engine to help her get more wins to go with those qualifying kudos. She has the returning support of both Monster Energy Drink and Flav-R-Pac frozen fruits and vegetables, the two sponsors each taking on 11 of the year’s 22 races.
Company president Hight continues to drive the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro SS with tuning by Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham. This trio garnered two victories and two No. 1 qualifying positions during the 2021 season and will welcome associate sponsor Powers Solar Frames to the team for the 2022 season.
As the versatile Austin Prock enters his second full-time NHRA season as a driver, he retains backing from Montana Brand /Rocky Mountain Twist. Prock has two new celebrated crew chiefs to assist him as he seeks to join the Force foundation of champions. With both Joe Barlam and formerly retired (well, he didn’t work full-time in 2021) Rahn Tobler tuning the knobs, Prock is certain to earn his second career victory, after securing his first at Seattle during his rookie campaign, when he finished eighth in the dragster class.
“We ended the 2021 season in a good spot,” said John Force, the CEO and owner of his eponymous team. “We had teams in contention for the championship and any time that happens, as a team owner it’s always good. We are going to start 2022 with momentum and back to being a four-car team.
“Having Austin Prock back in the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist dragster with Joe Barlam and Rahn Tobler, it’s going to have a positive impact on the whole team,” Force recognizes. “It’s not going to be easy, but the teams we have will be willing to put in the work to make great things happen. We’re going after race wins and championships, that’s what we’re always going after. We have the people, the partners and the parts to make it happen,” Force stated.
The four-car John Force Racing squad will be on the grounds of Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park outside Phoenix, AZ this Thursday through Saturday for pre-season testing. Next weekend, the Camping World teams kick off NHRA’s 71st season with the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by protecttheharvest.com, scheduled February 18-20 on Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, in Pomona, Calif.
Leave a Reply