The performance over the last year has skyrocketed and is due in part to Beckman's crew chief Jimmy Prock and assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham.
This weekend, the team travels to Minnesota for the 35th annual NHRA Nationals at Brainerd. At the event last year, Beckman was the No. 1 qualifier with a stellar pass of 3.901 seconds at 325.69 mph.
A large part of the record breaking performances was due to the laid back style of headers that Beckman started running in Denver last year and many teams have followed its lead.
"Last year Brainerd was the first track on tour to see a Funny Car run in the 3.80s," Beckman said.
"Then last weekend in Seattle, you could have run in the 3.80s and not had lane choice first round. Now that we're cycling back to all the tracks where they've already seen laid back headers with the Funny Car, I thought we'd only see three or four hundredths of a second shaved off the track ET (elapsed time) record but Del (Worsham, Kalitta Motorsports) knocked eight hundredths off Seattle's record that at the time was the quickest round in history."
Last weekend in Seattle, Beckman and the Infinite Hero posted career bests a run in 3.854 seconds - fourth quickest in history - and at an astounding 334.15 mph, the second fastest ever.
Beckman says he is excited about the performance of the Funny Car field and where the sport is headed.
"It's a wonderful show for the fans. Everybody is getting their money's worth. As a driver, I love it because you have to hold on - these things are light in the frontend and hard to drive. As I fan, I just love seeing those big numbers pop up," Beckman said.
"I can't even make any performance predictions. The crew chiefs and Mopar engineering have just blown me away with what they've been able to achieve in the performance game."
After Seattle, NHRA teams had a weekend off. But Beckman and his family did what racers do - they went to a drag race.
"I got to drive a friend's NHRA Top Dragster in the bracket race in Boise (Idaho). I think we made about 17 to 18 runs over the course of the weekend and also did some announcing. It was just a fun getaway.
"It might sound odd that a getaway isn't getting away from a dragstrip, but Sportsman racing is completely different than driving a nitro Funny Car. It's been a good time to unwind.
"I'll hop on an airplane and go home, get everything taken care of there: mow the grass, pack my bags, hop back on the airplane and go to Brainerd. I just can't think of a better way to get my head back in the game than racing. I think now we have the car that we've been wanting.
"The downside is that we've tweaked both of our cars and the DSR chassis shop (fabrication shop) has had to work overtime to get us fresh pipe on this. I don't think that's going to do anything but make us better when we go to Brainerd."
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| Photo Credit: Auto Imagery |
JACK BECKMAN: Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T
Last event: Seattle (Aug. 5, 2016): Qualified No. 4, lost in second round to Matt Hagan
A year ago at Brainerd: Qualified No. 1, lost in semifinals to Tommy Johnson Jr.
Career at Brainerd: Wins 0; Runner-ups 2 (2008, 2010); Poles 3 (2012-13, 2015)
Pts Events Wins Rup Semi Qtr 1st rd Poles DNQ W/L
2016 3rd 16 1 3 2 10 3 4 0 24-15
CAREER 244 23 25 43 69 76 19 7 321-214
Best Time, Speed: 3.854 sec. (2016, Seattle); 334.15 mph (Seattle, 2016)
NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNY CAR STANDINGS
Through 16 of 24 events; Seattle Funny Car finals to be held at Brainerd; DSR DRIVERS IN CAPS
1. RON CAPPS (4 or 5) 1313 or 1333
2. Courtney Force (1) 1124
3. JACK BECKMAN (1) 1088
4. Del Worsham (0 or 1) 1070 or 1090
5. MATT HAGAN (2) 1011
7. Robert Hight (1) 988
6. John Force (2) 970
8. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. (1) 940
9. Tim Wilkerson (2) 862
10. Alexis DeJoria (1) 765
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