Jack Beckman, who has six national event victories under his belt in his short two-and-a-half (or so) years in the Funny Car class of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, plus a national top-speed record of 333.66 mph, is still looking for his first win of 2009. He’s aiming to fix this deficit at the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway this weekend driving the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car.
“You know, it’s been an interesting year,” he said. “I thought that we would have had a win by this time, but I think that most fans would have also expected that Robert Hight, John Force, Tim Wilkerson and the Pedregon Brothers (Cruz and Tony) all would have had wins by this time in the year.
“The NAPA car, with Ron Capps and (crew chief) Ed McCulloch, has definitely risen to the occasion and set the bar pretty high for the rest of us,” added Beckman about his Don Schumacher Racing teammate who has won three of the first five national events of the year and leads the points. “But, I still think this is going to be another Funny Car year where you see 10 different winners.
“To me it’s a testament to how competitive this category is. It’s so tough to win in Funny Car anymore, so the fact that the NAPA team has won three is actually amazing. And I’m happy for our teammates, but I want to be happy for our crew chief Johnny West and everyone else on the Valvoline/MTS team too.
“We’re definitely going to win some races, but it would be nice if we did it this weekend in Atlanta. We’ve gone rounds everywhere but one race, so it would be nice to get the Valvoline/MTS car in the winner’s circle as soon as possible.
“We just have to keep focused on the fact that we are championship contenders, and tell ourselves that every single week. I tell you, everybody on our team has a good attitude, but there’s nothing like a Sunday with the trophy in your hands to solidify that good attitude.”
JACK BECKMAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 7 in 2009 Funny Car standings, after one first-round, three quarterfinal and one runner-up finishes in five events
* No. 3 in 2008 Funny Car point standings, with three victories - Phoenix, Reading, Concord - in seven final rounds
* His 2008 round win-loss record is 33-18
* Qualified No. 13 in Atlanta in ‘08. Lost first round to Gary Densham
* 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. Ended the season No. 5 in points
* In his 69 national events in Top Fuel and Funny Car, he has won six times in 13 final rounds (all in Funny Car), and has a career round win-loss record of 75-58
* Is the 2007 U.S. Smokeless Showdown winner ($100,000 bonus event held at U.S. Nationals)
* 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
* Leads 14-time champion John Force in head-to-head round wins: 6-4
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