Chevrolet Thunders into 2024 NHRA Campaign

A new NHRA season is set to blast off, and as always, Chevrolet power will be seen, felt and heard on drag strips across the country.

The biggest Team Chevy news heading into the 2024 campaign is a shakeup in the John Force Racing  (JFR) camp. Over the winter, the team announced that three-time Funny Car champion Robert Hight would step out of his Camaro SS to deal with a medical issue. Hight has finished second in points in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series the last two seasons. In his place, Austin Prock will move over from the JJFR Top Fuel ranks to take his place.

“I have to put my health first,” Hight said. “Once this is resolved, I’ll be back. I’ll be looking forward to racing again, I’m a competitor and can’t wait to get back to doing what I love. I know Austin will do a great job in my place for Cornwell Tools, AAA, Chevy and all of the John Force Racing sponsors. I have no doubt he’ll win races.”

Prock’s family has a long history in drag racing. This season he’ll be paired with his father, aggressive and wildly successful crew chief Jimmy Prock, along with Austin’s brother and co-crew chief, Thomas Prock.

The team got off to a quick start, taking victory in the invitation-only, $250,000-to-win PRO Superstar Shootout at Florida’s Bradenton Motorsports Park in February. Prock qualified in the No. 1 spot and hoisted the trophy after three rounds of eliminations.

“It still hasn’t hit me; it’s surreal that I’m even driving a Funny Car right now,” Prock said after the victory. “I’ve got my grandfather’s 374, his number when he drove Funny Car, on this thing. We took it to the Winner’s Circle.”

Meanwhile, the seemingly ageless 16-time Funny Car champion John Force will be back behind the wheel of his Camaro SS to hunt more Wally trophies and yet another title. Although Force finished seventh in the final standings last season, the team patriarch failed to claim a victory. The winner of 155 national events is looking to quickly change that statistic in 2024.

This year, his son-in-law Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi return as crew chiefs, while Chris Cunningham also joins the team. Cunningham helped guide Prock to an eighth-place points result and one win in the Top Fuel category last year.

With Prock moving to Funny Car, Brittany Force finds herself once again as the lone Top Fuel competitor in the JFR camp. Force is a two-time Top Fuel champion, but also failed to hoist a Wally last year as she drove to a seventh-place result in the standings. Her crew chief David Grubnic will be joined this year by fellow veteran John Collins.

Force enters 2024 with renewed vigor and big personal news, having gotten engaged in the offseason.

Despite the changes, JFR has its sights focused on race wins and series titles in their nitromethane-powered machines making over 11,000 horsepower at speeds greater than 330 mph.

“The 2023 season was a bit of a whirlwind for us, and the off-season wasn’t much different with Robert Hight having to step away from the seat but Austin being available to step in,” John Force said.  Robert has to take care of himself, and we want the best for him. Austin, he gets a chance to race with his family, Brittany with Monster has a new crew chief with David Grubnic and I’ve added Cunningham to my team. We’re in a great position for 2024, we have all the right people in place and after last season with all of us not getting wins and no championship, we definitely have the motivation.”

In the Chevrolet-heavy Pro Stock ranks, Erica Enders enters the season as the leader in the Team Chevy camp after scoring her sixth championship last year. The driver of the red Elite Motorsports Camaro SS also kicked off the season with a $125,000 victory in the PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton. She defeated Dave Connolly, a 26-time Pro Stock winner and championship crew chief, who was driving for rival KB Titan Racing.

“I know I have the best guys in the business standing behind me and it’s a group that I can trust and I cannot emphasize enough how that means the world to me,” Enders said. “Hearing them tell me how proud they are over the radio as I’m in the shutdown area, with who was in the other lane, and the pressure, I put it up against a world championship.”

The season is shaping up to again be a battle featuring Enders and her Elite teammates and the KB Titan team helmed by Greg Anderson. Anderson, a five-time Pro Stock champion, finished as runner-up in the point standings last year. His 103 career professional victories are second only to John Force in the Pro categories.

Elite Motorsports boasts Enders, Aaron Stanfield, Bo Butner, Troy Coughlin Jr. and the returning six-time champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. piloting its Chevrolet Pro Stock cars. Meanwhile, rival KB Titan Racing features Anderson, Dallas Glenn, Matt Hartford, Camrie Caruso, Deric Kramer, Kyle Koretsky and Eric Latino in its Camaro SS machines. Additionally, the father-son duo of Chris and Mason McGaha at Harlow Sammons Racing and a variety of other independent teams are set to hunt Wallys with Chevrolet.

The parity in Pro Stock is readily apparent, and many believe the factory hot rod class – featuring naturally aspirated, 500 cubic-inch engines and five-speed manual transmissions – is the toughest in drag racing.

As always, the Bowtie Brand will have a strong presence in specialty classes and Sportsman racing as well. Aaron Stanfield leads the charge in the Factory Stock Showdown category after driving his COPO Camaro to the championship in 2023. Stanfield has won three of the last four Factory Stock Showdown titles and the COPO has won four in a row, with COPO stalwart David Barton having taken the crown in 2022.

Last year, COPO drivers took the top three spots in the final standings with Stephen Bell finishing second and Lenny Lottig taking the third position. Jesse Alexandra came home fifth, winning the prestigious U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park along the way. For 2024, the Factory Stock Showdown slate expands to 10 races and will continue to feature supercharged factory muscle from The Big Three competing for bragging rights in heads-up competition.

After several exhibition events last year, the COPO Camaro will also compete against its Big Three counterparts in the eight-race Factory X schedule in 2024. The class is open to 2019 and newer manufactured automobiles and each features an electronically fuel-injected supercharged engine paired with a five-speed manual transmission.

The cars ride on tires that are 33 inches tall and 10.5 inches wide, which is wider than Factory Stock Showdown tires. In addition, Factory X cars have a minimum weight of 2,650 pounds, nearly 1,000 pounds lighter than their Factory Stock Showdown counterparts. All bodies must be OEM dimensional with no body alterations and all feature steel roofs and quarter panels.

With their light weight and wide variety of modern technologies, Factory X cars are capable of over 200 mph in the quarter-mile.

At national, regional and divisional Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events throughout the season, wide-ranging modern and classic Bowtie vehicles will also be found hunting Wally trophies on the strip. Among the power plants are a variety of Chevrolet Performance crate engines.*

Points accumulated in NHRA Funny Car, Factory Stock Showdown, Stock Eliminator and Super Stock determine the Manufacturers Cup. Last year, Chevrolet took the award for a record-extending 28th time. The Bowtie claimed the award for the seventh year in a row and the ninth time in the last 11 seasons.

With an impressive field of Chevrolet drivers and vehicles in the staging lanes for 2024, more trophies are sure to come.

Keep watching The BLOCK for much more on Chevrolet Performance and all motorsports disciplines.

*Because of their effect on a vehicle’s emissions performance, these engines are intended exclusively for use in competition vehicles. These engines are designed and intended for use in vehicles operated exclusively for competition: in racing or organized competition on courses separate from public roads, streets or highways. Installation or use of these engines on a vehicle operated on public roads, streets or highways is likely to violate U.S., Canadian, and state and provincial laws and regulations related to motor vehicle emissions.