Two Drivers Want To Give IndyCar a Try, One the Double

NHRA Funny Car driver Austin Prock and NASCAR Cup champion Ryan Blaney have one thing in common – both would like to drive an Indy Car.

Prock said Friday prior to the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol, Tenn., that he would “hop into it (Indy Car) in a heartbeat.”

Prior to Prock being licensed in a Super Comp dragster in 2017, he raced Sprint Cars with an eye on NASCAR and IndyCar. Tony Stewart said Prock ran his Midget out of the TSR shop “for years.”

“If he wants to do it (drive an Indy Car), you’ve got to follow your dreams,” Stewart said. “I’ve learned in my career, never say never.

“If that’s what he wants to do and he gets an opportunity, we would obviously do what we could to help out, but I haven’t been in a (Indy) car in 23 years. So, there’s a lot of things that have changed in the sport, especially in IndyCar, that I am totally clueless on.”

Blaney, who drives for Roger Penske who possesses 20 Indianapolis 500 victories, says he would like to do the double -- competing in the Memorial Day weekend classics that occur on the same day.

“Racers are always curious about other series,” says Blaney, a third-generation driver who started his career in Quarter Midgets. “You want to see what the similarities and the differences are between different cars.

“Indy Cars, obviously, was something that I grew up really enjoying watching as well as the NASCAR scene. I loved watching Roger’s cars growing up. I remember listening on the radio when (Sam) Hornish won the (Indy) 500.

“I’ve been trying to start a petition … of me and Scottie Mac (Scott McLaughlin, another Team Penske driver) doing the double. I don’t think that’s ever been done. So that would be kind of neat, both of us doing the double in the same year. That would be a lot of headaches for a lot of people over at Team Penske, but I think that’d be pretty cool.”