YORBA LINDA, Calif. — John Force Racing has finalized its crew chief rosters for the upcoming NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
President of John Force Racing and reigning three-time Funny Car champion Robert Hight will continue to drive the Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet Camaro SS with his tandem of crew chiefs Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham.
The trio picked up their third world title in 2019 after earning eight No. 1 qualifiers and winning six races, a career high for Hight. Hight, who has raced for Auto Club of Southern California/AAA for his entire career, earned his 50th career victory as well as his 500th round win in 2019. The title year comes after winning four races in seven final rounds on their way to finishing second in 2018.
On 16-time world champion John Force’s PEAK/BlueDEF Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car, Danny Hood, son-in-law to John Force, will take as crew chief with assistant crew chiefs Ronnie Thompson, who helped tune Austin Prock’s dragster in 2019, and Tim Fabrisi, who was Force’s car chief in 2019.
Force will be racing the BlueDEF Chevy Camaro SS for the first 11 races and the PEAK Chevy Camaro SS for the remainder of the season. Force finished fourth in the 2019 NHRA Funny Car point standings.
Crew chief David Grubnic and assistant crew chief Mac Savage will continue to tune 2017 Top Fuel world champion Brittany Force’s Monster Energy/Flav-R-Pac dragster. Like her father, Force’s dragster will feature two primary sponsors throughout the season with Monster Energy owning 12 races and Flav-R-Pac owning 10.
Force wrapped up 2019 third in the points standings after chasing down a second championship until the final race of the season. In the process, Force captured wins at the SpringNationals in Houston and the Countdown to the Championship race in Las Vegas while securing a career-best eight No. 1 qualifiers.
Auto Club Road to the Future Award winner Austin Prock will enter his second NHRA season in the driver’s seat of his Montana Brand/Rocky Mountain Twist dragster with crew chief Mike Green, a 2019 mid-season hire, and assistant crew-chief Joe Barlam, the newest member of the John Force Racing tuning roster.
Prock earned his first victory with Green at the Northwest Nationals in 2019, joining the list of only 10 previous rookies to win in their first season. Prock also became the 13th rookie to qualify for the Countdown to the Championship and finished the season eighth in points.
“We ended the 2019 season in a good spot, anytime your team gets a championship, as a team owner, it’s always good. Prock got his first win, Brittany and I were in the fight and then Robert with Auto Club was just incredible,” said John Force Racing CEO and owner John Force. “We are going to start 2020 with momentum. The changes we’ve made, they’ll only improve on what we have. It’s not going to be easy, but the teams we have will be willing to put in the work to make great things happen. We’re going after race wins and championships, that’s what we’re always going after. We have the people, the partners and the parts to make it happen.”