WITH VEGAS HICCUP BEHIND HIM, BECKMAN SET FOR ATLANTA
NORTH HILLS, Calif. (April 23, 2008) - For Jack Beckman, who started the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season on a hot streak, with two quarterfinal finishes and one victory in the first three races, plus a short stint as the Funny Car points leader (albeit only after qualifying), a rare parts breakage in the opening round of the last event in Las Vegas was just an early-season hiccup.
As the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T race team prepares for this weekend's NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, Beckman shrugs off this blip on the radar as he targets his first victory in Atlanta and a return to the top of the standings. He fell from No. 2 to No. 6 after Vegas.
The cancer survivor and former Air Force sergeant who joined Don Schumacher Racing at the end of 2006 remained enthusiastic in his usual thoughtful way. "Everybody is going to have slumps," he said. "You have to minimize them and you've got to get right back with the momentum. It appears that we got some defective parts and that bit us in Las Vegas, which is unfortunate. The upside side is we stayed and tested on Monday after Vegas and we're nearly positive that we fixed our problem.
"And we got to make some very hot weather passes which should help us out in Atlanta and St. Louis the weekend immediately following.
"Vegas was odd. I thought Vegas was going to be the race where we could let it all hang out. It turned out to be another tricky track and some of the crew chiefs are now speculating that changes in how NHRA is prepping the tracks might be affecting the cars.
"Atlanta Dragway is doing some last-minute repairs to the race track, which is kind of reminiscent of what happened with Bristol last year (which was rescheduled until the track was ready). So, hopefully everything will go smoothly there, and I mean smoothly in more ways than one.
"The most important thing is we need to get back on track. We have to keep qualifying. We just squeaked in in Vegas by one thousandth of a second, but that doesn’t matter,” said Beckman, who, with 20, currently holds the longest consecutive qualifying streak for active drivers. “As long as we do qualify I feel we have a better-than-average chance on Sunday. And we're going to need to start being more consistent through qualifying so that we can work on the race-day tune-up.
"We're also going to start testing after a couple more of these races just to get a summer tune-up so that we're ahead of the competition. Most of the tracks from here on out will be hot tracks."
Mail Terminal Services continues its "Mail from Home" program in 2008. Fans at each NHRA national event have the opportunity to sign special cards at the DSR hospitality area and at the U.S. Army Racing Zone in the midway area, which MTS then ships, free of charge, to the troops in war zones overseas.
JACK BECKMAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 6 in 2008 Funny Car points after five events (one victory)
* Qualified No. 9 at 2007 Southern Nationals, lost first round to Gary Scelzi
* Finished 2007 season fifth in point standings
* Was bumped out of the 2007 Countdown to Four playoffs standings at the Richmond, Va., event, after his teammates Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps reached the semifinal round.
* Had back-to-back 2007 season victories in Denver and Seattle, in three final rounds
* Also in 2007 had three semifinal finishes, seven quarterfinal finishes and two DNQs, and a round win-loss record of 24-19
* In his 45 national events in Top Fuel and Funny Car, he has won four times in six final rounds (all in Funny Car), and has a career round win-loss record of 43-38
* Set national elapsed-time record of 4.662 seconds and national speed record of 333.66 mph at final 2006 event in Pomona, Calif. The ET record has since been eclipsed. Beckman still holds the speed record
* As a Funny Car rookie in the last five races of 2006, he qualified No. 1 once (Pomona 2), reached two final rounds (Las Vegas 2 and Pomona 2), won once (Vegas 2), and set both ends of the national record (Pomona 2)
* Residence: North Hills, Calif.
* Hometown: Granada Hills, Calif.
* Date of birth: June 28, 1966
* Married, Jenna (wedding date 11/7/06), son Jason Russell (3/8/07)
* Height/weight: 6'0", 185 lbs.
* Serves as instructor at Frank Hawley's NHRA Championship Drag Racing School; former Sergeant in U.S. Air Force (1984-88); cancer survivor; licensed in nine different NHRA categories
* First Start in TF: Las Vegas 1 2005
* First Start in FC: , Dallas, Texas, 2006
* Competed in only 12 TF events in 2005, ended season 15th in points
* Career-best FC elapsed time: 4.662 seconds (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best FC speed: 333.66 mph (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best TF elapsed time: 4.563 seconds (TF, Brainerd 2005)
* Career-best TF speed: 324.28 mph (TF, Brainerd 2005)
* In 2003 won Super Comp world championship in Lucas Oil Series and Division 7 Super Comp championship
* Is tied in round wins against 14-time NHRA champion John Force: 4-4
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, April 25 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 2 and 5:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, April 26 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, April 27 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m.
FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Saturday, April 26, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 6 p.m. (ET).
Sunday April 27, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will air NHRA Race Day, at 11 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, April 27, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of final eliminations at 7 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE:
Friday, April 25, 9:30-10 p.m. (ET) – Horizons 2 / Transponder 12K (12160 MHz, vertical)
Saturday, April 26, 6-6:30 p.m. (ET) – Horizons 2 / Transponder 12K (12160 MHz, vertical)
Sunday, April 27, 7-7:30 p.m. (ET) – Horizons 2 / Transponder 12K (12160 MHz, vertical)
