There is a LinkedIn profile for Austin Prock that hasn’t been updated since it was created.
The page has no profile photo. There are no updates on work and life milestones. It simply states his name, experience as a race car driver, location in Indianapolis and education. But it’s the “About” section that stands out.
Prock created the page when he was 19 years old. That’s right at the beginning of what he wrote in the “About” section, before he mentioned that he is the son of Jimmy Prock and is trying to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional race car driver. It then goes on to describe how much he has already done in his career. And then comes the big hit.
The last sentence reads: “One day I will set my own records in the world of motor racing.”
On Saturday, Prock completed just that in his rookie NHRA Funny Car season. At age 29, Prock claimed his first championship after qualifying for the NHRA finals at Pomona. In the process, he picked up his 15th No. 1 qualifier of the season with the fourth-fastest run in class history.
“I was probably 10 when I had that thing,” Prock said of the LinkedIn page.
When reminded of what he wrote, Prock joked, “Well, I was pretty smart back then. Predicting the future.”
No one could have predicted what Prock did this season. The year started with Prock without a seat after his Top Fuel team at John Force Racing was disbanded due to sponsorship ending. But when Robert Hight had to retire from his Funny Car for unknown health reasons, Prock was the next man in line.
Prock started the year by winning in his debut at the inaugural PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton Motorsports Park. In his first official NHRA weekend in Gainesville, Prock qualified No. 1 but lost in the final round. In the second race of the year he lost in the first round.
But then domination began to appear. Prock earned seven No. 1 qualifiers in the next nine races. He won four of those races. By the time the countdown began in September, Prock had five wins and an 18-lap lead in the points (before the reset). He has won three of the five Countdown races.
Prock has a win/loss record of 50-11 entering the finals. It’s one of the most dominant seasons in Funny Car history.
“That’s pretty crazy,” Prock said. “That was 10 years (writing on LinkedIn), and that was the year I won my national midget championship. So I guess it all makes sense. That’s pretty cool.
“Back to racing when I was growing up: I also had to put pressure on my own sponsors. So we have always had to fight for it and those are the things that are needed to excel. You said that point stood out – and perhaps it stood out to one of our partners at the time.”
The Funny Car championship win comes with the organization giving Prock a shot at drag racing. But more importantly, it comes with a team featuring his father, Jimmy, and brother, Thomas.
It has been well documented throughout the year how much it means to the Prock family to race together. For Austin, he knew what the goal was from the beginning of the year because his father, who never speaks so bluntly, declared that he wanted to win the championship.
Prock was never baffled.
“To be honest, I haven’t really felt much pressure all season,” he said. “Bradenton was obviously nervous about getting into a completely different race car, a completely different beast, and expected to perform. Or I was expected to perform as a rookie. I guess you could call that pressure. But it was what I dreamed of. So I feel like pressure just makes you worse. Those players in sports, or racers in motorsports, perform (well) under pressure because they do not feel the pressure. I tried to block all that out and focus on what I had to do.
“I study my subject every day. Every run I go on, I go back and watch the videotape in slow-mo and see things I could do better, practice my reaction times and just try to be a machine. I know I can drive a race car; it was just a question of whether I could do it at the highest level. I knew this car would be behind me and I knew all these guys were behind me, and if I did my job at least decently, we would have a chance to win races. Everyone has done fantastic as a team this year.
“We had the fastest race car and one of the fastest drivers at the start, and that’s what it takes to win these races.”