PEAK Motorsports Update- November 5, 2024

NHRA: Ford Performance NHRA Nationals- Las Vegas, NV

Tuesday, November 5, 2024: John Force Racing swept the postponed 24th NHRA Nevada Nationals on Monday, claiming victories in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories. Austin Prock, driving for the Cornwell Tools team, and Brittany Force, piloting the Chevrolet Accessories Top Fuel Dragster, each secured wins from the number one qualifying position, while their teammate Jack Beckman earned a semi-finalist result in his PEAK Chevrolet. 

Prock’s performance marked a significant achievement, breaking John Force’s 1996 record for most # 1 qualifiers in a single season with 14. The win with teammate Brittany Force also marks the first double-up win since Prock and Robert Hight shared the winner's circle at the Charlotte 4-Wide on April 30, 2023. 

In the final round of Funny Car, Austin Prock faced Paul Lee and secured a decisive victory, outperforming Lee in every metric on NHRA's official timeslip. Prock recorded a reaction time of 0.065 seconds and an elapsed time of 3.830 seconds at 327.33 mph, surpassing Lee's 0.089-second reaction time and 3.982-second elapsed time.

The victory all but secures the first championship of the 29-year-old's career. He enters the final race of the 2024 season in Pomona, California, just points shy of a perfect race over teammate Jack Beckman.

Prock’s cross-class teammate Brittany Force was also victorious in Vegas. With guidance from crew chief David Grubnic, Force earned her third Nevada Nationals win and fourth overall at “The Strip” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The victory marked a return to form for a team that once dominated the class, breaking a two-year absence from the winner’s circle since their last win at this event in 2022.

Force’s 3.703-second pass at 332.59 mph over reigning champion Doug Kalitta, who smoked the tires off the line and shut down early. The victory marked the 17th of her career and moved her team from eighth to seventh in the overall championship standings 118 points behind leader Justin Ashley. When qualifying begins November 15th for the In-N-Out Burger Finals, she will be only 34 points out of fourth place in an event that pays 30 points for each round win instead of the usual 20.

Jack Beckman qualified second in Funny Car in the PEAK Chevrolet Funny Car and aimed to face teammate Austin Prock in the final round, but ultimately settled for a semi-final finish. Event runner-up Paul Lee claimed the holeshot win over Beckman with a career-best 3.834-second pass at 330.23 mph, edging ‘Fast Jack’ at the stripe by just 0.0024 seconds. 

Beckman remains second in the Funny Car championship standings behind teammate Austin Prock, trailing by 188 points with 191 points still up for grabs. To secure the title, Beckman will need a standout performance and some missteps from Prock, setting up an all-John Force Racing showdown in the season’s final stretch.

The NHRA Championship will be decided November 15-17th at In-N-Out Burger Raceway in Pomona, California.

NASCAR Mexico: Challenge Series

Facing a difficult final race of the NASCAR Mexico Series on November 2 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, PEAK Driver Gustavo Barrales secured a top-10 finish in the Challenge category.

Barrales commanded stock car #62 in the 12th and final race, dealing with qualification issues that forced him to start from the back. During the race, he navigated through early incidents and regained his pace towards a 9th place finish.

Barrales reflected, “It was a tough weekend, but we pulled through thanks to the incredible work of my team. Now, I need to rest and prepare for next year to be fully ready for the challenges ahead.”

2024 ended positively for Barrales, who aims for an even better 2025 in the NASCAR Mexico Series.