Jack Beckman picked up right where he left off last season by racing to
the No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car on Saturday at the Circle K
NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, California.
Steve
Torrence (Top Fuel) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) also will lead their
categories into Sunday’s 2 p.m. ET eliminations at the season-opening
event of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
Beckman, who
failed to qualify at this event one year ago but then rallied to post
seven wins and set the national record four times en route to
challenging for the Funny Car world championship, continued to prove he
has the quickest Funny Car in the pits. In the final qualifying pair he
clocked a 3.888-second run at 326.16 mph to take his first No. 1 at the
Winternationals and 16th of his career. He will open eliminations
against John Hale.
“As a hometown guy it’s tough to come out to
the first race of the year because there’s a little extra pressure to do
well and some stress if you don’t, but we are beyond that,” Beckman
said. “It’s clear that [crew chiefs] Jimmy [Prock], John [Medlen] and
Chris [Cunningham] are getting a handle on this car. When you see them
getting that close you know great things are in store for this team.”
Beckman
finished second to eventual world champion Del Worsham last season when
Worsham’s DHL Toyota team got hot in the playoffs and won four of the
six Countdown events. However, the competition and performance in Funny
Car has been elevated largely due to the strides first made by Beckman
in his Prock-tuned machine. He understands that there are several cars
out here who can win the championship and he and his team will need to
be focused to get the job done.
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