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Two-time reigning Funny Car world champion Austin Prock is entering this year’s 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals with more to prove than just defending his PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout title. With a stacked field of NHRA Funny Car drivers, including five world champions with 11 combined titles, defending the Callout crown will be no easy task.

In 2025, Prock swept the biggest weekend in drag racing at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, winning the Funny Car All-Star Callout, clinching the regular season championship and finishing the weekend with a second straight Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals victory on Labor Day.

Prock faces a bigger uphill battle to repeat that success this year, entering the Callout as the fifth seed for Tasca Racing. But the two-time reigning world champion has been building momentum at the right time, advancing to the semifinals at each of the past five events, including a runner-up finish in Seattle, and is confident in the recent performance of his 12,000-horsepower Ford Racing Mustang.

“I think we’re plenty capable,” Prock said. “Our package just seems to work in Indy, and we’ve earned those wins the last two years. I feel like our race car is in a good enough spot to go do that again.”

The big-money bonus race, which awards the winner $80,000, takes place on Sunday, Sept. 6, featuring eight standouts in the category.

The No. 1 seed is Jack Beckman, Prock’s former teammate at John Force Racing. Beckman will have his pick of the eight-car field. Five world champions are part of the field, combining for 11 Funny Car world titles, including four-time champion, points leader and most recent winner on tour Matt Hagan, who is seeded second in the Callout, along with former champs and Indy winners Ron Capps and J.R. Todd. After Prock, the field also includes Alexis DeJoria, two-time 2026 race winner Chad Green and 2025 Rookie of the Year Spencer Hyde. Six of the qualified drivers have wins during the 2026 season.

“I don’t really feel like anybody is going to pick me, but if they do, great,” Prock said. “I like the Callout because it brings a little bit of animosity. When someone calls you out, it gets me more fired up to go out there and beat them.”

The first round of the Funny Car All-Star Callout takes place at 12:45 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the semifinals at 2:15 p.m. and the final round at 3:40 p.m. A special broadcast of the Callout takes place on FS1 at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Since moving to Tasca Racing in the off-season, the two-time reigning champ has seen continued improvement from his Ford Racing Mustang as the regular season winds down and the Countdown to the Championship playoffs approach.

“After Brainerd, I really feel like that was our best performance overall as a race team since we started,” Prock said. “We obviously didn’t get the result that we wanted and had some misfortune on Sunday, but I think our race car is in the best spot that it has been. It’s as good, or close to as good, as our race car was at the end of last year.”

To purchase tickets to the 72nd annual Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals, fans can visit www.NHRA.com/tickets.