SONOMA, Calif. (July 31, 2016) - Jack Beckman and his Infinite Hero Foundation team came up short of defending their event title at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday when they were eliminated during the second round of competition.
"We did everything we needed to do for a team that didn't qualify in the top half of the ladder," Beckman said of the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T funded by Terry Chandler.
Beckman qualified No. 9 with a pass of 3.920 seconds at 323.27 mph.
In the first round, Beckman's 3.921-second pass at 323.27 mph got past teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. and the Make-A-Wish team, also funded by Terry Chandler.
Then during the second round, Beckman's car went up in tire smoke and the win went to Del Worsham of Kalitta Motorsports.
"We came out and we pushed the track hard. We beat our teammate (Johnson) in a side-by-side 3-second run. We took lane choice into the second round. And it dropped a cylinder right at the step - that made it shake and smoke the tires."
"You're just not going to win without running low 3.90s, even in the heat of the day anymore. One of the tough parts about that is when the track heats up and you pull the tune-up back just a bit it's hard to trying to keep all eight holes (cylinders) lit.
"It's frustrating. We're hanging tight in the points. But man, we need to be moving up and we're running out of time to do that before we go into the Countdown (to the Championship) for the reset of points after Labor Day.
Despite his early exit Sunday, Beckman remains third in the Funny Car points standings.
"Right now, in the regular season, it's just trophies. All you're after is just trophies," Beckman said.
"Once you go into the Countdown, the reality is, round wins are what's most important. Yes, getting a trophy gets you the most round wins but, you could runner-up at every race of the Countdown and probably win the Championship.
"It's not that we need to be any more motivated or determined but I think when we roll into Seattle, we'll have burned up a lot of notepads and calculator keys trying to figure out exactly what this car wants," Beckman said.
Next weekend is the final race of the three-race Western Swing.
"You just want to be standing there at the end of the day Sunday and have the fans say, 'Wow! What a perfect day!' So that's our goal in Seattle - perfect Sunday."
FUNNY CAR
Winner: John Force (John Force Racing)
No. 1 qualifier: Del Worsham (Kalitta Motorsports), 3.868 sec.-track record, 327.43 mph
JACK BECKMAN, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 9
SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATIONS
First round: BECKMAN (3.921 sec., 323.27 mph) def. Tommy Johnson Jr. (3.988, 296.76)
Second round: Del Worsham (3.958, 322.04) def. BECKMAN (7.608, 86.88)
QUALIFYING
FRIDAY: 3.933 sec., 322.34 mph, (Session 1); 4.389, 195.17, (Session 2)
SATURDAY: 4.120, 242.71, (Session 3); 3.920, 323.27, (Session 4)
FULL ARTICLE
