Following a two-hour rain delay before the start of eliminations at the CARQUEST Auto parts NHRA Winternationals, Jack Beckman fell victim to a change in track conditions during his opening round in the Funny Car class, losing to Jeff Arend.
Driving the Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T, No. 6 qualifier Beckman launched just behind Arend, but tire shake caused him to shut down early, coasting to a 9.543-second pass at 88.55 mph. Arend’s run wasn’t perfect either, but he took the win light with a 5.256/235.15.
“Unfortunately, we were almost the guinea pig there because, of the three Schumacher cars, Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps qualified higher, so they could run behind us, ” said Beckman, in the second pair, who had lane choice and selected what was considered the better lane based on Saturday’s results.
“The good news is Gary (No. 1 qualifier) and Ron (No. 3) were able to use our run to figure out that that right lane wasn’t nearly what it was yesterday.
“When the rain came, it just changed things significantly. Once you saw half the lower-qualified cars winning, and once there was a pattern that got established in that right lane - it wasn’t necessarily a tune-up deal, it was a lane deal - the higher-qualified cars switched over and for the rest of the round they won.
“So, no excuses. I think we just got bit with having a good race car on a significantly altered race track from what we qualified on.
“Losing stinks, but I think we may have learned a couple of things from it. Todd (Okuhara, crew chief) and I talked about driving in qualifying versus on race day. There’s two different mind sets to approach it. And even though the outcome wasn’t what we wanted, maybe we can use some of the things from here on down the road when the points are really going to get tight and be a better team and a better driver. So, I think that everybody will still be confident pulling into Phoenix.
“We still have the quickest and fastest Funny Car, right? So, we’ll just go to Phoenix and everything will feel better. “
Next up is the Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Ariz., Feb. 23-25.
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