Jack Beckman continued his strong start to the 2011 NHRA Funny Car season aboard his Mopar-powered Dodge Charger R/T, reaching the semifinals at the 23rd Annual NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka on Sunday, May 22.
The Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) hotshoe downed Jeff Arend in the opening round with a pass of 4.171 seconds at 294.05 mph. The quarterfinals found Beckman taking on veteran Jim Head. Beckman used a run of 4.665/236.01 to reach the semifinals, where he fell to Mike Neff.
Beckman, who has won twice in 2011, was also the No. 1 Qualifier at Topeka, setting low elapsed time and top speed for the event. Beckman has advanced to the semifinals in each of the last four races and has a 14-5 round win/loss record through seven events.
"We had a great weekend, but it is disappointing to qualify No. 1 and not take the car to the final round," said Beckman. "The heat today did take us out of our comfort zone. Considering the roll we’ve been on, it’s hard to complain. If you reach the semifinal round every race, that’s 44 round wins, and not too many people in Funny Car are doing that."
Mopar-powered and fellow DSR teammate Johnny Gray also advanced to the semifinals, falling to eventual winner Robert Hight. Gray was victorious in the first round over Paul Lee, before downing fellow Mopar-powered driver Ron Capps in the quarterfinals. Capps was a winner in the opening round over Bob Tasca III. Matt Hagan was a first-round winner over Tim Wilkerson before falling to Hight in the quarterfinals.
Beckman is currently second in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car standings, with fellow Mopar-powered DSR drivers Hagan fifth, Gray ninth and Capps 10th. Next up for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 42nd Annual NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., June 2–5. For more information on the NHRA, visit NHRA.com.
The Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) hotshoe downed Jeff Arend in the opening round with a pass of 4.171 seconds at 294.05 mph. The quarterfinals found Beckman taking on veteran Jim Head. Beckman used a run of 4.665/236.01 to reach the semifinals, where he fell to Mike Neff.
Beckman, who has won twice in 2011, was also the No. 1 Qualifier at Topeka, setting low elapsed time and top speed for the event. Beckman has advanced to the semifinals in each of the last four races and has a 14-5 round win/loss record through seven events.
"We had a great weekend, but it is disappointing to qualify No. 1 and not take the car to the final round," said Beckman. "The heat today did take us out of our comfort zone. Considering the roll we’ve been on, it’s hard to complain. If you reach the semifinal round every race, that’s 44 round wins, and not too many people in Funny Car are doing that."
Mopar-powered and fellow DSR teammate Johnny Gray also advanced to the semifinals, falling to eventual winner Robert Hight. Gray was victorious in the first round over Paul Lee, before downing fellow Mopar-powered driver Ron Capps in the quarterfinals. Capps was a winner in the opening round over Bob Tasca III. Matt Hagan was a first-round winner over Tim Wilkerson before falling to Hight in the quarterfinals.
Beckman is currently second in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car standings, with fellow Mopar-powered DSR drivers Hagan fifth, Gray ninth and Capps 10th. Next up for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the 42nd Annual NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., June 2–5. For more information on the NHRA, visit NHRA.com.
