DSR: Beckman adds two more NHRA records to Infinite Hero resume but semifinals loss drops DSR Dodge to fifth in final standings

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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Drag racing legend 'Jungle Pam' guides Beckman to Finals pole as Infinite Hero Dodge enjoys second quickest Funny Car run ever

POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 12, 2016) - Jack Beckman enjoyed a historic day Saturday in the NHRA Finals at the L.A. County Fairgrounds.

It started with the first qualifying session when he invited "Jungle Pam" Hardy (formerly Liberman), a drag racing icon,  to guide him back to the starting line after his burnouts.

Then he ended the day with the second quickest run ever in a Funny Car when crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T team funded by Terry Chandler produced a run of 3.825 seconds at 332.10 mph to lock up the No. 1 qualifying position for Sunday's championship eliminations in the NHRA Finals that will end the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

"It's just a number," he said of what earned his team its sixth pole of the year.

"It's interesting how excited people can get over a number. We were the last car down the racetrack, so let's face it - people are rushing to try to get home. But you hear how fanatical the people were who stuck around."

Beckman seemed more impressed to have a drag racing legend be his "back-up girl."

"Pam's heyday in drag racing was 40 years ago, and she was part of that scene. From my youngest memory in drag racing, everything about this sport touched my heart. A lot of people are passionate about football but they'll never be able to participate in the sport. I'm absolutely passionate about drag racing and able to participate in the sport. To be able to circle back and include someone like (Jungle Pam), somebody that I just thought was so iconic.

"I still have to wrap my head around it that these are all just normal people who have to go to work. She has bills to pay. But to  me, she is Jungle Pam. She was part of the team where I just thought, short of taking a rocket to the moon, it's the coolest thing that I thought a kid could get involved in.

"I'm 50 now and I'm involved in it."

FUNNY CAR
No. 1 qualifier: Jack Beckman (Don Schumacher Racing), 3.825 sec.-track record, 332.84 mph-track record

JACK BECKMAN, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T
Crew chief: Jimmy Prock; assistants: John Medlen, Chris Cunningham
Qualified: No. 1
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: John Bojec
QUALIFYING
FRIDAY: 3.921 sec., 326.32 mph, (Session 1); 3.865, 332.84-track record, (Session 2)
SATURDAY: no time, (Session 3); 3.825 sec.-track record, 332.10, (Session 4)

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 Sandvik Coromant/Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher dragster driven by Shawn Langdon and the FireAde Top Fuel dragster driven by Leah Pritchett; and in Funny Car, 2016 Funny Car world champion Ron Capps in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T, 2011 and 2014 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots 2015 Dodge Charger R/T, 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge and the Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr.

DSR has won 292 NHRA national event titles and 16 world championships.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.

Please visit Don Schumacher Racing for additional information.

NHRA season wraps up this weekend but Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charter R/T team hopeful to end season with win at Pomona

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Nov. 8, 2016) - Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team, sponsored by Terry Chandler, travel to Pomona, Calif., this weekend for the final event of the 2016 NHRA season.

"The season begins and ends almost in my backyard," said Beckman, a resident of Norco, Calif. "I'm 30 miles from the racetrack. Pomona is the track where I have spent the most time. For 10 years, I stood on the starting line flipping the switch for the students we were teaching at the Frank Hawley School.

"I have a deep, personal relationship with that track and it goes back to my childhood. Going there as an 8-year-old to watch the races. What I haven't done there is win in a nitro car. I've taken two Super Comp trophies from Pomona but neither of those were at the Finals."

At the NHRA Finals in 2015, Beckman qualified No. 2 with a 3.890-second pass at 327.90 mph.

He advanced to the semifinals when he defeated Chad Head and Cruz Pedregon but lost to eventual champion Del Worsham.

A win in Pomona is a win the Infinite Hero Foundation team and Beckman would love to mark off their to-do list.

The Infinite Hero Foundation team is currently No. 4 in the NHRA points standings. Although they are not mathematically able to win the championship title, a win at the 52nd annual Auto Club NHRA Finals could advance them to No. 2.

In 2015, Beckman battled for the championship with Worsham of Kalitta Motorsports throughout NHRA's Countdown to the Championship playoffs..

"The year for the Infinite Hero team really didn't stack up to our preseason expectations. We've won two races so far. We posed for at least a top-five finish and could finish as high as second. I think we and a lot of other people expected more out of our results this year. It's not for lack of trying.

"One thing that's a great salve for this would be leaving Pomona with a trophy. It's the one trophy that I think would shine the brightest for two months because you can't lose a race in the offseason.

"If you win the Finals, until we roll around back to the Winternationals again, you're technically undefeated in that time span. I'd like to say I was the guy to do that with the Infinite Hero Dodge at this race."


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