BECKMAN CLAIMS NO. 8 IN BRAINERD QUALIFYING
BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 9, 2008) - Jack Beckman achieved his and the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team's initial goal this weekend: First, they qualified solidly in the 12-car field in Friday night's favored qualifying session and, second, they qualified in the top half of the field.
Beckman ended up No. 8 after four qualifying rounds, recording his quickest run of 4.190 seconds at 293.86 mph on Friday night (No. 8). His other passes were a 4.537/192.71 (No. 6), 4.262/244.43 (No. 8), and a tire-smoking 5.944/110.45 in his final try.
"This is why, if we can do what we've done the last few races - qualify high - but more specifically , if we can do what we did here - qualify on Friday - it gives you Saturday as a tune-up day to get the setup right for Sunday,” he said.
"And, if you look at the sheet, we didn't make it down the track the last two runs all the way to the finish line, but, God, we learned a bunch. Run 3 we overpowered the track at half track; this last run we overpowered it at 150 feet. But we can marry those two graphs and tune-ups together and have a great race-day combo.
"So, this is great. Getting in in Friday is key,” added Beckman, who is on the Countdown to the Championship “bubble,” No. 10 in the standings.
He faces No. 9 qualifier Gary Densham in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.
