Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster team enter this weekend’s Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park ready to leave it all on the table as they battle for a strong showing heading into the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six race playoffs.
After starting the 2022 Camping World NHRA season with a runner-up finish at the season opening Winternationals, Prock had a No. 2 qualifying spot at the Virginia Nationals where he also reached the semifinals and followed up his Virginia performance with another semifinal finish at the New England Nationals. A series of early race day exits, and poor qualifying performances dropped the rising Top Fuel star to 12th in the points standings but with a string of four quality qualifying passes at the most recent event in Brainerd, Minn., the Montana Brand / RMT team look like they’re on the upswing.
“I’m excited for the ‘BIG GO’. I feel like this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team is on the right track for success this weekend. We’ve made good progress on our program and think it’s going to pay off,” Prock said. “I will be ready, I’m hungrier than ever and focused on the task at hand. We need a big weekend to have some momentum going into the playoffs.”
Prock was a semifinalist in his only U.S. Nationals appearance as a driver in 2019. After qualifying 12th, he beat Richie Crampton and Mike Salinas before smoking the tires against Doug Kalitta in the semifinals. He is racing a full schedule in the Montana Brand/ RMT dragster this year for the first time since 2019 after his driving career temporarily was sidetracked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Competition at the prestigious U.S. Nationals kicks off with five rounds of qualifying beginning Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. with two runs Saturday at 2:45 and 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 4:30 p.m. Eliminations are set to begin on Monday at 10 a.m. Television coverage of qualifying will be on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) with shows Sunday at 1, 4 and 5:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations coverage will be split with a show at noon ET on FS1 and 2 p.m. ET on FOX Broadcasting.
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