There have been so many changes at John Force Racing over the past few NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series seasons.
The larger part of those adjustments began when three-time Funny Car champ Robert Hight announced that, due to medical issues, he’d be sitting out the 2024 season, which opened the door for Austin Prock to have his father, Jimmy and brother, Thomas tune the Cornwell Quality Tools Chevrolet SS flopper. Prock, who had been driving a Top Fuel dragster as Brittany Force’s teammate, easily slid into his new role and earned last year’s championship by qualifying for the final race of the season on the In-N-Out Burger Pomona dragstrip.
In the midst of Prock’s championship run, 16-time Funny Car champion and team owner John Force had his final crash in Richmond, one that didn’t take his life but did banish the 157-time class race winner from the water box; he returned to watch his daughter, Prock and Force’s replacement Jack Beckman race in the final two contests of the year. From the sidelines, where he declared – just before the scheduled 2025 finals – that he’d remain.
Due to inclement weather that damaged the Pomona racetrack, the scheduled NHRA Finals were never able to be conducted two weeks after the penultimate Las Vegas race; NHRA decided to use the standings from that contest to anoint its champions, making Prock a repeat champion in Funny Car, without turning a wheel in anger.
Today, November 24, John Force Racing (JFR) spoke aloud the rumors that have been floating throughout the NHRA nitro pits for at least a month: the Prock family is leaving John Force Racing. Where they’re taking their immense talents is unknown at this time, and the Prock family isn’t talking. Yet.
It was left to Force’s team to make it official: “John Force Racing and Austin and Jimmy Prock have ended the racing partnership that produced NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car championships the past two seasons, for the 24-time championship organization.” While Jimmy Prock joined the team in 2001, it’s not the first time he has departed JFR; he worked with Don Schumacher Racing in 2015-2016 but has remained with the Force team until now.
“John Force Racing has been doing what we do for more than 50 years,” said John Force, “and all the hard work preparing for the 2026 NHRA season continues as planned with four race teams and the Force American Made machine shop. We appreciate the strength and continued backing of all the great sponsors that support us, so we’re focused on the future that includes announcing additional partnerships in the coming weeks.
“We are very proud,” Force confirmed, “of our accomplishments with the Prock family. I wish them well and I understand that their decision to move on is just part of the business we’re in.”
Austin Prock’s major sponsor, Cornwell Quality Tools, issued a statement a day after the change at John Force Racing made headlines, stating that the company remains fully committed to the team. “Our alignment with JFR remains unwavering,” the company statement said. “The team’s dedication to the 2026 season – fielding four race teams and their commitment to American-made performance – mirrors the strength and determination we see across our Cornwell Tools dealer network. Together our focus is clear: continue building momentum, elevate our presence in the industry and chase another championship in 2026.”
The result of this change is a major adjustment at John Force Racing, as Brittany Force announced her full-time departure from Top Fuel competition earlier this year; newly married to Bobby Lyons, she intends to join sisters Ashley and Courtney to start a family. Brittany, a two-time Top Fuel titleholder, won her final race in Las Vegas on November 2. Josh Hart has joined the team to run its dragster. Jack Beckman will continue to race the PEAK Chevrolet SS that he began racing at Brainerd in 2024 as John Force substitute. The Force team expects to run four teams, two dragsters and two Funny Cars, which leaves two seats unknown. This will be the first time John Force Racing will field a team without anyone named “Force” driving.
As for Jimmy, Thomas and Austin Prock, their ultimate destination has not yet been made clear. Austin Prock has earned all 21 of his NHRA victories with John Force Racing, with four in Top Fuel complementing his 17 victories these past two seasons in Funny Car.
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