Austin Prock Riding Momentum Into NHRA Four-Wide At LVMS’ Strip; John Force Racing Drivers Ready

Story By: SARA SLAUGHTER / JOHN FORCE RACING – LAS VEGAS, NV – Austin Prock and the Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist Chevrolet dragster team enter this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with confidence after a runner-up finish at the most recent event, the NHRA Winternationals.

Prock is coming off his third consecutive final-round appearance in the Winternationals, a performance that enabled him and his Montana Brand / RMT dragster to move up from eighth to fifth in NHRA Camping World championship points, just behind teammate Brittany Force. The runner-up performance came after two quarterfinal exits in Gainesville, Florida, and at the Arizona Nationals.

“I’m ready to get going after coming of a great weekend in Pomona at the Winternationals. I know we’re all hungry to get back to racing on this Montana Brand / Rocky Mountain Twist team,” Prock said. “Winning in Las Vegas at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has always been on my bucket list and maybe this weekend will be our time to shine.”

Prock had his best outing at Las Vegas during last fall’s Nevada Nationals in which he qualified No. 2 before losing to Mike Salinas in the semifinals. At last year’s Four-Wide Nationals, Prock qualified No. 12 but made it to the second round of quads.

BRITTANY FORCE LOOKING FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS AT THE STRIP AT LVMS

LAS VEGAS (April 12, 2023) – Brittany Force and the Monster Energy / Flav-R-Pac Chevrolet dragster team have luck on their side at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Heading into this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals they’ll be hoping to cash in on their lucky streak for their first win of the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

When they swept the two tour events at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022, Force and the Monster-Energy team became just the fifth pro team to win four-wide races on both coasts and the first John Force Racing driver to do so. She also became the first JFR driver to win the spring race at Vegas since it went four-wide in 2018. She is the 10th driver to sweep the spring and fall events at LVMS but just the third to do so in Top Fuel, along with Torrence and Larry Dixon.

“Heading to the first Four-Wide event of the season at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and we’re looking forward to returning to a track we’ve been successful in the past. We had a strong performance last season sweeping both events, the Four-Wide in the Spring and the Arizona nationals in the fall during the Countdown to the Championship,” said Force. “We’re back in our Monster Energy colors this weekend and are excited to turn things up with some exciting four-wide racing. There are more challenges but it’s definitely worth it when you end the day in the winners circle. The Strip at LVMS is one of my favorite tracks on the circuit and after a week off, I’m ready to chase down a Sin City win.”

Force also won the fall NHRA Nevada Nationals in 2019 when she also qualified No. 1 and drove the Flav-R-Pac/Monster Energy dragster to track records of 3.652 seconds and 338.17 mph. Force and the Monster Energy team enter the weekend sitting No. 4 in the points standings after a semifinal finish at the Winternationals and a quarterfinal exit in at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.

ROBERT HIGHT ALL IN FOR SECOND VICTORY OF 2023

Sitting fourth in the championship points standings, Robert Hight and the Flav-R-Pac / Cornwell Tools / AAA Chevrolet Camaro SS team enter this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ready to lay all the cards on the table as they chase their second win of the season.

Hight and the Flav-R-Pac crew, headed by Jimmy Prock, will be looking to rebound from a first-round loss at the Winternationals that snapped the three-time championship team’s streak of first-round victories at 24, one of the longest in history. After winning last month in the final race at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park just outside of Phoenix, Hight is looking for his 63rd career victory and a chance to break a tie with Larry Dixon for 10th on the NHRA all-time winner’s list.

“It was a bummer leaving Pomona, one of our team’s home race tracks, with a first-round loss. Then to have to wait two weeks to get back in the seat, it’s painful and not just for me. I know Jimmy Prock along with assistant crew chiefs Thomas Prock and Nate Hildahl and the whole team are anxious to get back to racing,” Hight said. “This Flav-R-Pac team is definitely looking forward to Vegas and going four-wide racing. It’s exciting for the fans more than anything. We just need to focus and do what we know how to do.”

Although he has yet to win the Vegas four-wide, Hight has two four-wide wins at Charlotte (2012 and 2014) and three wins at The Strip in the spring before it transitioned to four-wide in 2018 (2007, 2011 and 2012). At last year’s Four-Wide Nationals at LVMS, Hight reached the final quad. He has also been No. 1 in the spring in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2021.

JOHN FORCE LOOKING FOR A RESET AT LAS VEGAS FOUR-WIDE

John Force and his BlueDEF PLATINUM Chevrolet Camaro SS team enter this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway looking to put the first three races of the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season behind them. What better way than with a win in the first four-wide event of the year?

Since the debut of four-wide racing at Charlotte in 2010, no one has won more quads than John Force. His 14 quad-round wins include three overall four-wide race wins. Despite his most recent three consecutive second quad exits at The Strip, Force has two victories at the spring event in Las Vegas, 2010 and 2015, both before the transition to four-wide racing, in addition to four wins in the fall competition. Force has two No. 1 qualifying positions in the spring at The Strip and has started each of the last two years from the No. 2 position.

“Four-wide racing in Las Vegas, the perfect place to put on a show. I’ve had some success there, it’s a Bruton Smith track, but really, I’m just really ready to get back into my BlueDEF Chevy,” Force said. “The team, Danny Hood, Tim Fabrisi, Mac Savage, they’ve evaluated everything and looked over the car closely. We’ll be ready to race. Get things started with four qualifying rounds, make some clean runs and then see how things go on race day. I’m excited, though.”

Force and the BlueDEF Chevy are currently sitting 13th in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Championship points standings, the lowest the 16-time champion has ever been after three races. Force started the season with a quarterfinal exit at the NHRA Gatornationals after qualifying No. 2. At the final event at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, Force qualified eighth before falling in the first round to eventual race winner and teammate Robert Hight. At his hometown track, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip for the Winternationals, Force had a string of bad luck with two centerline infractions that put him in the No. 16 qualifying spot and then had tire smoke for a first-round loss.

The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway begins with four rounds of qualifying with sessions on Friday and Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m. Eliminations are scheduled for Sunday at noon. Television coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) begins with qualifying shows Friday and Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET. Eliminations will air on FS1 Sunday at 9:30 p.m.