Prock stays hot at Summit Nationals

NORWALK — Funny Car points leader Austin Prock continues to deliver the punctuation mark. In Richmond, Va. last weekend, Prock guided his car to victory one year later from the site of team owner John Force's crash that has put the winningest driver in U.S. Motorsports history off the track. As the NHRA arrived at Norwalk a week later in 2024, all was not well with JFR Racing — and the sport — as Force missed the event as he recovered in the hospital from Traumatic Brain Injury. On Sunday, Prock did it again. He went back-to-back for a second time this season, earning his 16th career Wally Trophy by beating Matt Hagan in the finals at the 19th annual NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals. Prock's primary sponsor is also Cornwell Tools, which is based out of Wadsworth. "It was definitely special, you know, the energy was definitely in a better place this year," Prock said. "Last year, I probably shouldn't have even been behind the wheel, some of those runs. My mental state was not in the best capacity. "But, you know, we still had a fast hot rod and I ended up coming short to Tasca in the semis last year. But to get it done with the Force family back in the house, that that was a big deal. Last weekend was huge and this weekend was really big for the Force family and really big for Cornwell Tools." Prock went 4.064-seconds at 318.54 mph to slip past Hagan's 4.099, as the points leader earned his fourth win in 10 races this season. It is the reigning world champion's 16th career win and the 12th in the last 30 races since joining the Funny Car ranks at the start of the 2024. "I mean, winning in their backyard, sending the trophy home with them, I delivered the championship trophy to them this weekend," Prock said of Cornwell Tools. "So to send them home with two pieces of hardware (ice cream scoop) definitely makes me feel good." Justin Ashley (Top Fuel), Cory Reed (Pro Stock) and John Hall (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at Summit Motorsports Park on Sunday. To reach the final round, Prock defeated Dale Creasy Jr., Bob Tasca III and Ron Capps. Hagan left first, but Prock had enough to track him down and earn his first career victory at Summit Motorsports Park. Hagan advanced to the final round by defeating J.R. Todd, Jack Beckman and No. 1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon. Prock leads his teammate Beckman — filling in for John Force — by 127 points after 10 races. Ashley continues to dominate in Top Fuel. He picked up his second consecutive victory, this time going 3.931 at 317.34 in his dragster to hold off Clay Millican in a thrilling championship round holeshot victory. It's the first career win in Norwalk for Ashley, who has advanced to six final rounds at the past seven races. He's now won consecutive races as well, pulling to within 77 points of leader Tony Stewart. No professional driver in any of the major motorsport disciplines in the U.S. has ever hailed from New York state, where Ashley grew up in Plainview. "It's very exciting to get my first win here," Ashley said. "Norwalk means a lot to me personally. My father (Mike) won in Funny Car here in 2007, and I ever since we started racing in Top Fuel, it was a dream of mine to win right here and that's what we did today. "It's special and the team did a great job all weekend." Ashley, who qualified No. 1 for the first time this year, got past Scott Farley, Josh Hart and Shawn Langdon to reach the final round. Against Millican, Ashley had an incredible .027 reaction time, which was just enough to hold off Millican's solid run of 3.922 in a memorable holeshot victory for Ashley. "We qualified number one and navigated our way down the racetrack all race day long on a surface that was very slippery and very tricky," Ashley said. "The people who win these races are the ones that go A to B, and that's what we did today. "I'm just glad it worked out. I'm really proud of Mike Green and Tommy DeLago and our whole team. They really deserved this win and I'm happy that could be along for the ride." Millican reached the finals for the second time this season after defeating Dan Mercier, Doug Kalitta and Stewart. In Pro Stock, Cory Reed picked up his first career NHRA win in a magical moment, taking down teammate Dallas Glenn in the final round with a run of 6.648 at 207.30 mph. Glenn had almost immediate tire shake off the starting line, as Reed cruised to the victory in what was his fourth career final round. Reed made the switch from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Pro Stock last year. To reach the final round, Reed defeated Troy Coughlin Jr., Greg Stanfield and No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson. "I had a lot of emotions, like you said, I tried not to cry pretty much the whole time right now," Reed said. "All I know is I got Dallas off the tree, which was a very big accomplishment for myself. "I struggled all day with lights, so I was proud of myself for coming around like that. I kind of knew I had to step up against that guy. He's tough. My buddy Joey (Gladstone), my mom and dad, family, everybody at KB is amazing. They all taught me so much and helping me every day. Getting me through personal struggles and all that stuff, it's incredible." Glenn reached the final round for the seventh time in eight races this year with round wins against Val Smeland, Cody Coughlin and Matt Hartford, who won Saturday's Pro Stock All-Star Callout. He trails points leader Anderson by 50 points at the halfway point Pro Stock Motorcycle's John Hall waited nearly 12 years between wins, but he was rewarded on Sunday in the Maple City. Hall beat Richard Gadson in the championship round with a run of 6.880 at 196.67. Gadson left first with a standout .021 reaction time, but Hall had enough power to slip by at the finish line, recording his first victory since the U.S. Nationals at Indy in 2013. It's the veteran's third career win, and came after he beat Wesley Wells, Marc Ingwersen and points leader Gaige Herrera to reach the finals. Herrera went red to hand the victory to Hall, who then got the best of Gadson to get the win. "It's special because you never know if you're going to get another one," Hall said. "I won twice in 2013, including the U.S. Nationals. You know, 12 years goes by and you just realize how hard it is to get one of these. "Matt Smith Racing is one of the hardest working teams out here and they get you to the winner's circle if you do your job. I ride the bike and he [Matt Smith] tells me to do my job. I hit the button, cut a good light, and that's my mindset. But they tune the bike, they're constantly tuning the bike for the weather and it paid off." To reach the final round for the third time this season, Gadson took down Chase Van Sant, Angie Smith and No. 1 qualifier Matt Smith. Herrera leaves with the points lead, holding a 96-point advantage over Matt Smith. The NHRA will be off for three weeks after reaching the midway point of the season this weekend. The series returns to action with the Northwest Nationals, set for July 18-20 at Pacific Raceways in Seattle.