POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 13, 2016) - Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T team led by crew chief Jimmy Prock and funded by Terry Chandler had a very good year.
But there was some disappointment Sunday in the season-finale of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season when Beckman lost in the semifinals to eventual event runner-up John Force, who was defeated by Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. for the NHRA Finals event title.
Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car world champion, had every reason to advance further after his Infinite Hero Dodge with crew chief Jimmy Prock closed qualifying Saturday with a track-record time of 3.825 seconds to secure the team's sixth No. 1 qualifying position of the season.
In addition to the elapsed time record, the Infinite Hero Dodge set the track speed record at 332.84 mph. In all, the team set four time and seven speed records in 24 Mello Yello events.
"We did some amazing things this year on the track and with the Infinite Hero Foundation for our veterans," Beckman said.
"I'm reflective on the year, and it's disappointing to not be able to close it out with a win. But I love this group of people I'm surrounded with. We've changed some lives for the better and we'll just continue moving forward.
"We wanted to have the trophy and that was a really important round against John Force. If we won that round, we would be no worse than third in the points. If we lost, and he moved around us and we dropped to fifth.
"But it was a top-5 finish and that is incredibly hard to do in a nitro car. I think at the outset of the year, we felt our chances were going to be a little bit better. Nobody is going to hang their heads on this."
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