On the final Funny Car pass of the day at Brainerd International Raceway, points leader Austin Prock powered to the No. 1 spot and claimed his sixth straight victory in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday at the 42nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, while Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) and Jerry Tucker (Pro Stock) also qualified No. 1 at the 13th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Prock went a stellar 3.860s at 334.07mph in his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS to close out qualifying and win the specialty race against Ron Capps in the process. It gives Prock an incredible seven victories in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, which is the most in the history of the program that started a year ago.
He’s earned 23 bonus championship points as well, while the run hands the points leader and first-year Funny Car driver an equally incredible nine No. 1 qualifiers in the first 13 races of the season. Like he’s done several times in 2024, Prock will look for a clean sweep of the weekend on Sunday, opening eliminations against Jim Campbell.
“It was impressive, but the conditions were coming to everybody,” Prock said. “Safety Safari did an outstanding job of getting the race track back into tip-top shape. I’m really proud of the team, we had a great day and were low of both sessions.
“I was nervous but a little excited to get another shot at a late run here because last night we threw up. We were kind of scratching our heads on why. It was really close to making it and it just didn’t go. [Today], it went right down there and made a really nice pass. We ended up with three more points, a Mission win, and another yellow hat – pretty proud of that.”
Bob Tasca III jumped to second after going 3.868s at 334.98mph in the final session, while Blake Alexander took third thank to Friday’s run of 3.874s at 331.61mph.
In Top Fuel, Antron Brown stayed red-hot in Brainerd, as the defending event winner and victor in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge repeated the first part of that on Saturday, defeating Steve Torrence in the final of the bonus race with a run of 3.842s at 314.17mph in his Matco Tools Toyota dragster.
It is Brown’s second victory in the Challenge this season, giving him 10 bonus points for the Countdown to the Championship. Brainerd continues to be a great place for the three-time world champion who looking to be peaking at the perfect time. He’s the back-to-back Indy winner and Brown, who is currently fifth in points, also won the most recent race in Sonoma, giving him plenty of momentum at an ideal time.
“It’s always been a plan in motion to try to peak at the right time. Our car has been running exceptionally well and that’s just a tribute to our team,” Brown said. “They’ve been working really hard at this and they got a good combination. We’ve been running strong enough, even with the Mission #2Fast2Tasty to pull off the runs. We make it down track every run, and when you do that, it gives you a chance to win.
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“This is one of those great tracks. This is a special track for us, this is where we ran our first 0.60s, a 3.68s against J.R. Todd. This track always has some great memories for us, and we always kick into gear – this is where we get into our groove. We race enough races in a row to know where we’re at and where we need to be at. Tomorrow, hopefully we can continue that trend and carry it on to the U.S. Nationals.”
Torrence kept the No. 1 position on the strength of Friday’s 3.688s at 335.32mph in his Capco Contractors Toyota dragster. It gives the four-time world champ his third top spot this season and the 40th in his career. He’ll open eliminations against Ida Zetterstrom, who is making her Top Fuel debut this weekend in Brainerd.
“This is time where you really get up on your A-game and start working on trying to go win a championship,” Torrence said. “We have here and Indy left, and then it’s ‘katy bar the door.’ Everybody is going to be swinging as hard as they can and trying to go out and win a championship. We’re right in the thick of things, and we need to capitalize on every opportunity we have to stay a top three car and start the Countdown strong.”
Tony Stewart stayed in the second spot thanks to Friday’s 3.688s at 332.18mph and Brittany Force jumped to third in the final qualifying session thanks to a run of 3.698s at 335.48mph.
Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson capped off the night with his third win in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, taking down KB Titan Racing teammate Cory Reed in the final of the bonus race with a run of 6.618s at 204.79mph in his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro. It was an ideal finish for the evening for Anderson, who will look to sweep his hometown race and win for the first time in Brainerd since 2011.
“It was definitely a great day,” Anderson said. “You have to stick it out. Nobody cares how it happened, they just know who won, period, so you have to find a way to win. We did. It was a great race in the final with my new teammate, Cory Reed. He’s obviously going to be a special racer. I’m very proud of the boy, and I dodged a bullet. We’ll see what the Good Lord brings tomorrow.
“Today was a great day. I love racing on Saturday, and as I’ve said many times before, after a great win on Sunday I sure wish we could race tomorrow, and man we get to race tomorrow. I’m very happy about that, and I can’t wait to get to it. I think tomorrow is going to be smooth, it should be a great day, and hopefully we can find a way to show off in front of the hometown fans.”
Jerry Tucker earned his second career No. 1 qualifier of the year in his Outlaw Mile Hi Beer/Scag Power Equipment Car after a strong pass of 6.612s at 207.78mph. It adds to Tucker’s current momentum after running well in Sonoma and advancing to the semifinals. He’ll face off with Mason McGaha, hoping to pick up his first career win in Pro Stock and give Elite Motorsports its seventh straight victory of the year as well.
“We knew we had it in us. We went to Sonoma, and we were probably the fastest car. I let the team down,” Tucker said. “We went over to Rock Falls and did some testing and we were faster than Jeg and TJ and Erica. Really, in testing, if you’re that fast, you’ve got a good racecar. When the car is that fast, it’s a lot of pressure on a guy not to mess up a good deal. Erica drove that car for five years, and there are no issues with that car. It’s the fastest car.
“The Elite team is something, it’s hard to put your finger on. Everyone is pulling in the same direction. Erica Enders has been great to me, Jeg has been right beside me. Anytime you have that many championships trying to keep you in line, it’s kind of hard to mess up. My team is good that works on my car, so it’s really just up to the driver.”
Enders is second with a 6.612s at 207.27mph and Anderson qualified third.
Eliminations for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals begin at 10:30 a.m. CT on Sunday at Brainerd International Raceway.