NORWALK, Ohio (June 26, 2016) – Optimism pumps through Jack Beckman’s veins like nitro flows through the 10,000-horsepower engine of his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car.
Actually, for Beckman’s sake, recently his heart has been more reliable than his racecar.
The 2012 NHRA Funny Car world champion, who won seven events a year ago, was confident coming to Norwalk, Ohio, that he would finally bust into the winner’s circle to snap a season’s long winless streak and win his third NHRA Summit Racing Nationals trophy.
But Beckman and the Infinite Hero team, funded by Terry Chandler and led by crew chief Jimmy Prock, will have to wait for two more weeks to win an NHRA Wally trophy in when the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series resumes near Chicago after a weekend off.
“A very frustrating day,” said Beckman, who qualified fifth and was upset in the first round by Alexis DeJoria. “I know our job is to find a silver lining but there isn’t a silver lining in this because we’re way better than this.”
The early exit enabled Courtney Force, who lost to Beckman’s teammate Ron Capps in the final round, to move around Beckman for the No. 2 spot in the points standings after 12 of 24 Mello Yello events.
“We’ve been pretty good in the heat lately,” Beckman said. “Maybe if there’s something to learn from this weekend it is that this combination isn’t as consistent as some of the recent combinations we’ve run.
“So are we off a little or off a lot? We’re not sure. We know we have to change something.”
The Infinite Hero Dodge will return to Don Schumacher Racing headquarters Monday and the team will quickly go to work to find the problem and correct it.
“We have a couple weeks before we race in Chicago and we’ll change some things with the clutch that should make it more consistent.
“You can’t run quick until you run consistent. Once we become quick again we can start to make our ascent back to the top.”
FULL ARTICLE
