Beckman and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T sponsored by Terry Chandler and led by crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham were on the cusp of NHRA Funny Car history by becoming the first to complete all eight runs in a Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event in the 3-second range and winning their first title of the year.
A win over Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan with crew chief Dickie Venables also would have given the championship points lead to Beckman.
But after a record-setting weekend that saw three of four national records fall in the nitro categories, both cars lost traction but Hagan’s spinning came a little later in the run that allowed him to beat Beckman in a final round for the second straight weekend.
Hagan’s winning time was turtle-like 5.724 seconds at 179.04 mph to Beckman’s 6.560 at 146.75 mph. It was the second consecutive weekend when Hagan beat Beckman in a final round.
“We didn’t go four feet,” Beckman said. “And Dickie and Matt in the other lane didn’t go 50 feet.
And the dragsters (in the final) didn’t go either.
“At that point you have to look and say it’s probably the glue (traction compound) they spray before each round that didn’t get the same amount of drying time before the finals that it typically gets.
“I just wish we could have put on a better show for the fans. Many of them got treated to the show of a lifetime on Friday and Saturday, and the finals were kind of anticlimactic.
“We have a car that made seven 3-second runs consecutively. Nobody has ever done that.
We had every reason to think going up there for the final that we’d get our eighth with a good shot to get the trophy.”
Beckman, who is seeking his first NHRA Wally trophy of the year, would have taken over the Funny Car points lead with a win over Hagan but will only trail leader Courtney Force by 12 points when the series resumes in two weeks at Epping, N.H., to begin a stretch of four races in four weekends.
“We’ll pick up the pieces and be ready for four in a row,” said Beckman, who competed in his second final round at Topeka where he won in 2012.
“We really feel like we have something to prove when we get to Epping.”
FULL ARTICLE
