And look to earn their first title at the 17th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals title on Sunday at Bristol, Tenn.
"Bristol is just one of those bucket-list racetracks from a fan's perspective," said Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car world champion.
"It's just so unique, the way it's carved through the valley and enhances the sounds, the views of the hills are breathtaking. It's also great from a racer's perspective. Bristol has so much history. It was on the NHRA tour back in the '60s. It fell off for a few years and we're very fortunate to have it back on as a permanent race right now."
The Bristol event marks the 11th of 24 on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season and the third of a four-race, four-week stretch called the "Eastern Swing."
"It's where you really start recognizing things are going rapidly. We're approaching the halfway point of the season. Then the next month and a half, it's just rapid fire. This is the time that the teams that are going to contend for the championship start to get their stride and I think we'll be right in the thick of that."
And in the thick of the points standings they are.
After their win last weekend, due to the tuning of crew chiefs Dean Antonelli, John Medlen and Neal Strausbaugh, the Infinite Hero team moved up to No. 3 in the NHRA points.
"We needed to get (the win in Englishtown) so they know that we can do this. The first one is always the toughest one. It's 25 Funny Car wins for me, plus two more in Super Comp, but it's one for this iteration of the Infinite Hero team."
In 2016 at Bristol, Beckman entered race day as the No. 9 qualifier and raced John Force in the opening round. Beckman posted a 3.974-second lap at 322.3 mph to give him the win.
He moved onto the second round to face his Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Ron Capps. Beckman ran a 4.007 (317.19) but Capps made it to the finish line first with a time of 3.990 (315.05).
This weekend Beckman looks for his first career win at Bristol and the Infinite Hero Dodge looks for their second wins as a team.
JACK BECKMAN, Terry Chandler's Infinite Hero Foundation 2017 Dodge Charger R/T - won last event
Pts Events Wins Rup Semi Qtr 1st rd Poles DNQ W/L
2017 3rd 10 1 1 2 4 2 0 0 14-9
CAREER 262 25 26 47 77 80 21 7 346-230
Best Time, Speed: 3.825 sec., (2016 Pomona 2); 334.15 mph (Seattle 2016)
BY THE NUMBERS
Last event (June 11), Englishtown, N.J.: Qualified No. 4, won in championship round over Ron Capps
A year ago at Bristol: Qualified No. 9, lost in second round to Ron Capps
Career at Bristol: Wins 0; Runner-ups 1 (2011); Poles 0
2017 NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNY CAR STANDINGS
(Official after Englishtown, N.J.; 10th of 24 events; wins in parenthesis; DSR drivers in CAPS)
1. RON CAPPS (4) 931 -----
2. MATT HAGAN (3) 802 -129
3. JACK BECKMAN (1) 652 -279
4. Courtney Force 648 -283
5. Robert Hight 645 -286
6t. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. (1) 587 -344
6t. John Force (1) 587 -344
8. J.R. Todd 444 -444
9. Tim Wilkerson 427 -504
10. Del Worsham 372 -559
About Infinite Hero Foundation
A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Infinite Hero Foundation combats the most difficult front line issues - mental and physical - facing returning military heroes and their families. The Foundation funds programs that drive innovation and the accessibility of effective treatments for military heroes and their families dealing with service-related mental and physical injuries. For more information, visit: www.infinitehero.org.
About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., fields eight professional NHRA teams. In Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the Matco Tools dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown; the Papa John's Top Fuel dragster driven by Leah Pritchett and in Funny Car, 2011 and 2014 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane 2015 Dodge Charger R/T, 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge of Ron Capps and the Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr.
DSR has won 308 NHRA national event titles and 16 world championships.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Wolf (wolfj@shoeracing.com), 702.524.1368
Leah Vaughn (vaughnl@shoeracing.com), 618.516.1988
