To start, they won the unique "race within a race" $100,000 Traxxas Nitro Shootout event. They then were the No. 1 qualifying team heading into race day on Labor Day and closed out the weekend by winning the prestigious U.S. Nationals event, snapping a 14-year winless streak for Don Schumacher Racing Funny Cars at Indy.
This year is the 62nd annual event and the tale has a much different beginning than last year.
Beckman has not locked in his spot for the Traxxas Nitro Shootout as one of the first seven event winners of the season.
Although he and the Infinite Hero Dodge won the Mello Yello title on July 10 near Chicago, their only route to getting into Saturday's Shootout will be determined on Wednesday during NHRA Fanfest at Monument Circle in Downtown Indianapolis.
The eighth and final spot will be determined by a lottery weighted by the results of a social media fan vote.
"Last year was a dream weekend winning the Traxxas Shootout and then taking the Wally home the next day," said the 2012 Funny Car world champion. "It was hot, it was nasty and a marathon.
"There really wasn't any time to celebrate after winning the Shootout because we had to get up Monday and do it all over again but on a bigger stage racing for a U.S. Nationals trophy."
And his Infinite Hero Foundation team did just that.
"It was as close to a perfect racing weekend a drag racer could have," he said.
"The coolest part about going to a race that you won the previous year is that you might make it onto the cover of the event program," Beckman said of his win last year. "That's a reminder of being the last person standing at the end of last year's tough week."
Beckman and crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham are currently No. 4 in the NHRA Funny Car points standings. Following the U.S. Nationals, the points will be reset as the series heads into the Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoff format that will determine which of the 10 Funny Car drivers will take home the 2016 championship.
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| Photo Credit: Auto Imagery |
Leading up to the U.S. Nationals, several of the NHRA teams, including seven of the eight Don Schumacher Racing teams, tested at the Indianapolis track in preparation for this weekend.
Beckman's Dodge Charger R/T made several runs down the race track testing different aspects of the car.
"We actually treated this like a test session," Beckman said. "A lot of teams come out here to practice one thing or another; to get the driver up to speed, get a new crew member up to speed, sort out the tune up.
"We actually tried some different clutch levers and a different clutch disc because we know at some point, it may not be this year, we're going to have to make some changes to be back at the top.
"A lot of times a scoreboard won't tell you how good a test session is. Sometimes, it's three or four months later when you recognize when you can implement something you learned during that test session."
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