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Team
Anxious to Get Back on Track with Upcoming Races at Phoenix, Pomona
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 9, 2
Photography: John Force Racing / Auto Imagery / Gary Nastase
Team Anxious to Get Back on Track with Upcoming Races at Phoenix, Pomona
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 9, 2025) – At the end of a rain-plagued 56th annual NHRA Gatornationals in which neither of the three John Force Racing drivers advanced beyond the second round, the mood was surprisingly upbeat Sunday as the team packed up for a trip back to its Brownsburg, Ind., shop prior to races in Phoenix, Ariz., and Pomona, Calif. “Rough weekend to start the year,” admitted
reigning Mission Foods Funny Car World Champion Austin Prock after losing a
first-round duel with Bob Tasca III. “The rear end blowing up (on the first
qualifying run) really just put us behind the eight ball along with Mother
Nature not being on our side.
“We were all confident going up there this
morning and figured we could make a nice run and get it down (the track),”
he said. “Honestly, I thought (that) even if Tasca and I both smoked the
tires, we would be able to get the job done but, when it spun the tires, it
disconnected the throttle and then the safety system got it (slowing the
usually potent Cornwell Tools Chevy to a pedestrian 13.050 seconds at just
56.62 miles per hour).
“Not the outing we wanted, but I know
there’s performance in this Prock Rocket,” said the 2019 tour Rookie of the
Year. “I’m looking forward to going back to the shop and regrouping and
going for a win in Phoenix.”
Jack Beckman, who started from the No. 1
position for the first time since taking over the seat of Force’s PEAK
Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS last August, was the only JFR driver to
survive the first round but even he was bounced in the second by four-time
former World Champ Matt Hagan.
“It was an odd weekend,” said the two-time
World Champion. “And it’s one of the ones JFR is not going to look back on
fondly, but the silver lining is we got a lot of good data. We got to test
Wednesday, we were No. 1 qualifier both sessions, we maxed out the
qualifying points and we got a round win on what was an incredibly tricky
racetrack.
“Without lane choice second round, it was
almost like going up there with a strike-and-a- half against us,” he said.
“But that’s alright. We will persevere. We know that we have
great data for the upcoming races, and I can’t wait to roll into Phoenix
because our first win and John Force Racing’s 300th Funny Car win is going
to come soon.”
Brittany Force, who was similarly
optimistic after an impressive pre-Gatornationals test, echoed the
sentiments of her teammates after losing to Tony Stewart in the first round
when her Monster Energy Chevrolet dragster lost traction at the first hit
of the throttle. She was ahead at 60 feet, but little went right after
that.
“Overall, it’s not the way our Monster team
wanted to start the season,” acknowledged the two-time Top Fuel World
Champ. “But we still have a lot of races ahead of us. This David
Grubnic/John Collins-run team is going to be strong this season. Our performance
has shown to have picked up where we left off last season and this new crew
works really well together.
“We were all very proud to run 302.69 mph
to the 1/8th mile during testing (the fastest speed ever at that distance),
but after only two qualifying runs we ended up sixth (in the Gatornationals
qualifying order). We may have overcompensated (in the first round) because
we were afraid it might shake and, unfortunately, we smoked early.
“But we know where the mistakes were made
and will use it to learn and move forward,” she said. “We have a good team
and a good racecar and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish in
Phoenix.”
The team’s namesake, still under treatment
for the Traumatic Brain Injury he suffered last June in Richmond, Va., but
back on tour to support his teams and corporate partners PEAK, Cornwell,
Chevrolet, Monster Energy and HendrickCars.com, was similarly optimistic.
“Our cars qualified okay,” said the
157-time NHRA tour winner. “We didn’t get very many rounds, but I was
excited just to be here and I know we've got some great teams."
Media Contact: PublicRelations@JohnForceRacing.com
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