PEAK Motorsports Update- May 19, 2025

NHRA: Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK- Joliet, IL

Monday, May 19, 2025: 

Racing on his sponsor’s home track with the support of the 623 employees of Old World Industries, whose names were inscribed on the hood of his PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS, Jack Beckman outdueled teammate Austin Prock in a classic all-John Force Racing final round Sunday to win the 25th NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

The 58-year-old driving instructor and drag racing historian used a .049 second reaction time to make his 3.935 a winner over Prock’s 3.933, securing JFR’s 324th pro tour victory. At the finish line, the margin was a scant .012 of a second. 

In winning for the second time this season, Beckman jumped to second place in Mission Foods points, 41 points behind reigning series champion Austin Prock, the same positions in which they finished just one year ago.

It was just Beckman’s sixth win when starting from the front, his first since 2018 when he won the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville, FL. He now has won four times since first sliding into the cockpit of the PEAK Chevy last August in relief of team owner and Hall of Fame inductee John Force.

It was the 55th time JFR teammates have battled for a victory on the sport’s premier circuit but just the second time at Chicago where Force, Beckman’s predecessor, beat Robert Hight, Prock’s predecessor, to win the Funny Car title in 2006. Ironically, Force also won on a hole shot.

Although he struggled in qualifying at the controls of the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet, Prock found his A-game on Sunday, dispatching Bobby Bode, Paul Lee and defending Chicago champion Matt Hagan to reach the final round for the fourth time in six races this year.

The 29-year-old, who won four tour events in a JFR Top Fuel dragster before getting a chance to drive a Funny Car for his dad, Jimmy, has been a finalist in 16 of the 26 races in which he has competed since making that move.

As for the two-time World Champ Brittany Force, her bid to become just the 12th Top Fuel driver in 75 years to win as many as 300 rounds of racing in the NHRA series ran afoul of Justin Ashley, who she lost to in Sunday’s opening round when her Monster Energy dragster slowed to 5.149 seconds after qualifying at 3.780. Nevertheless, the 38-year-old remains optimistic, especially after a .047 first round reaction time.

Team JFR will make the next stop of the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods tour on June 1 at the 12th NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, New Hampshire.