“Fast” Jack Beckman drove the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car into the semifinal round today at the NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.
After defeating Jeff Arend in the opening round of eliminations on another hot day in the American heartland with a solid 4.259-second run at 292.33 mph to Arend’s 4.320/285.77, he faced Tony Pedregon in the quarterfinal. He easily dismissed the 2007 Funny Car champion with a 4.314/285.17 pass to Pedregon’s 4.355/283.31 to advance to the semifinals and face his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps.
The pair took off with nearly identical reaction times (.088 for Beckman, .071 for Capps - .000 is perfect) and Beckman was looking good for a victory until a broken air line finally slowed Beckman to a losing 4.394/274.83 pass to Capps’ winning 4.289/286.68.
“We had an air line split on the car right at the hit,” said Beckman. “We did everything right for eliminations. And if you look at the numbers up until the time it ran out of air we were hauling butt. It was going to run a 4.25, it was going to turn the win light on, but our car didn’t get there first, so you have to hand it to the NAPA team.
“The good news is this is last year’s car, in its first race out since it’s been front-halved, with a new clutch system. So this weekend, you could almost argue, was a test session, and we tested awesome. This is exactly what we need. We’re on a three-race-in-a-row sweep and we have a great hot rod. It’s going to be hot, so we’re going to be in great shape in Chicago.”
Next up is the NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., June 5-7.
UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS, after nine events:
1. Ron Capps, 729 (winner today)
2. Del Worsham, 610
3. Ashley Force Hood, 603 (runner-up today)
4. Tony Pedregon, 584
5. Jack Beckman, 553
6. Tim Wilkerson, 498
7. Matt Hagan, 480
8. Bob Tasca III, 460
9. John Force, 453
10. Cruz Pedregon, 420
11. Mike Neff, 404
12. Robert Hight, 378
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