Jack Beckman took the Funny Car standings lead with two event left, racing to his third career victory at Firebird International Raceway on Sunday in the NHRA Arizona Nationals.
Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the fourth of six races in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoffs.
Beckman powered his Dodge Charger to a 4.354-second run at 278.29 mph in the final round to beat Don Schumacher Racing teammate Johnny Gray. The victory, Beckman’s second in a row in Phoenix and the 12th of his career, moved him into the points lead for the first time in his career.
“It’s hard to digest everything that happened here today,” Beckman said.
“I’ve always said I want to control our destiny on the racetrack, but being three rounds behind with 12 left, (Mike) Neff and (Matt) Hagan had to lose relatively early to put us back in the hunt, and you can never bet on that because those are two phenomenal teams. For everything to happen the way it happened today, I’m not so gratified that I’m the points leader, I’m gratified that we got ourselves back into the championship hunt. It’s going to be interesting.” Washington Post
Dixon, who seemed a long shot to collar a second consecutive NHRA Top Fuel dragster title, motored into championship contention Sunday by winning the Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway.
Dixon (3.955 seconds, 307.37 mph) narrowly edged Antron Brown (3.967, 302.08) in the finals, a heart-pounding victory that moved him to No. 2 in the Full Throttle Countdown standings and within 20 points of Brown with two remaining races.
“We were 108 points (in fourth) behind before the weekend and I told (someone) that if we could come out of here 60-something points out of first I’d be thrilled,” said Dixon, who has three career wins at Firebird, including his first one in 1995. “This means we’ve got a shot now.”
For Brown, he lost but still won as he also motored past former series leader Spencer Massey and into the lead. Massey dropped to third after failing to qualify,
“Of course, we’re a little disappointed we didn’t win,” Brown said. “But we made up a lot of ground this weekend and that was huge. We just have to continue to keep our heads down and keep marching.” Tucson Citizen
In Pro Stock, rookie driver Nobile held off fellow Dodge driver Allen Johnson in the final round to secure his third race win of the season. Nobile powered his Mountain View Tire Dodge Avenger to a 6.678 at 208.30 and posted a reaction time of .009 to beat Johnson on a holeshot. The win moved Nobile up to the third spot in the point standings.
“This is huge,” said Nobile. “We definitely struggled in the last two races, going out in the first round. Which really hurts, especially in the Countdown. Our team kept their heads up; I kept my head up. I knew we could do it, and we proved it today. They supplied me with a fast car, a consistent car for four rounds, and I did my job. It just proves that if you keep your head up that you can win races.”
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Arana raced to his second consecutive win and third of the season after he posted a perfect reaction time of .000 in the final round of the race. Arana powered his Lucas Oil Buell to a 6.884 at 194.30 past points leader Eddie Krawiec to collect the win in his third straight final round appearance. With the win, Arana sits 10 points behind leader Krawiec.
“I’m living a dream,” said Arana, who along with Nobile is one of the candidates for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award. “This is amazing. I couldn’t have thought of or imagined this. I really feel like I perform well when it comes down to the wire and the pressure is on me. And I feel like it gives me that extra edge, the energy and the drive to win.”
The next stop in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals Oct. 27-30 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. NHRA
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