NHRA Funny Car driver Jack Beckman was unhurt after his Infinite Hero
Dodge Charger exploded during Saturday's first round of qualifying for
the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.
Crew chief Jimmy Prock confirmed that a broken camshaft was the cause
of the explosion. Beckman was in the process of closing the throttle
when the broken camshaft caused the air/fuel mixture to ignite in the
manifold, causing the blow-up.
"It was moving around some," Beckman told Fox Sports after he climbed
out of the wreckage. "This racetrack can be exciting as a driver, the
groove can get tight and sometimes you have to stage off to the inside
to get better rubber on the starting line. I pulled it back, and it's
moving around some, and I think it just started to spin the tires ...
what could have happened is it might have tagged an intake valve, and
big explosion, I mean, that's one of the biggest ever.
"The worst for me, 'cause the oil was completely all over my visor,
and I actually had time to reach up with my glove and wipe it up, and
until then I couldn't any see anything. And it's nice to know that
you're not going into the wall. You look at the safety gear and my
gloves are burned, my firesuit's burned, and I'm OK. Forty years ago
that wouldn't have been the case with a fire like that."
The team planned to continue with the same chassis, foregoing the
final session in order to take the time to prepare the car for final
eliminations.
Ron Capps maintained his No. 1 qualifying spot in Funny Car qualifying after Friday's elapsed time track-record pass of 3.865 pass (325.92mph) held up.
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