CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 26, 2017) - A bad break on Sunday afternoon for Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero 2017 Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car funded by Terry Chandler might have been one of the best breaks of his career.
Beckman qualified sixth for Sunday's eliminations in the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix but barely got past the starting line in the first round of eliminations after his pre-race burnout when he felt something wrong with his Don Schumacher Racing racecar.
Beckman sensed something was wrong moments after he hit the throttle to warm his tires.
"In the middle of the burnout the motor tugged a down for a split second," he said. "At the end of the burnout, I heard a scraping sound, a metallic sound. I didn't know if some of the metal under the body was rubbing on something and thought maybe if we lifted the body we could bend it back so we could run. Then I felt a big vibration and knew it wasn't going to get better so I pulled over and shut it off.
"When we got back to the pit and saw all the carnage inside the bellhousing it was obvious this car wasn't going anywhere. It's a long season and there's no point in tearing your stuff up this early in the year.
"It threw the clutch out at 6,000 rpm without any load on the engine and put a chunk in the bellhousing. If that happened at 8,000 rpm at the top end of the racetrack the damage could have been devastating.
"And by the way, I have a leg on either side of that bellhousing."
The breakage likely kept Beckman from advancing to the second round. His opponent Gary Densham smoked the tires early and slowed to a time of 5.715 seconds at 106.55 mph.
"I'm not a 'shoulda, woulda, coulda' guy," Beckman said. "It was the right decision and you live with it. Losing sucks when you have a car as good as ours."
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| Photo Credit: Auto Imagery |
FUNNY CAR
EVENT WINNER: Matt Hagan/Ron Capps (Don Schumacher Racing)
No. 1 QUALIFIER: Tommy Johnson Jr. (Don Schumacher Racing), 3.837 sec.-career best, 329.10 mph
JACK BECKMAN, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T
Crew chiefs: John Medlen, Dean Antonelli, Neal Strausbaugh
Qualified: No. 5
First round: Gary Densham (6.715 sec., 206.55 mph) def. BECKMAN (broke on burnout)
QUALIFYING
FRIDAY: 3.873 sec., 329.18 mph, (Session 1); 5.187, 140.52, (Session 2)
SATURDAY: 3.869, 328.46, (Session 3); 3.881, 322.11, (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 Papa John's Top Fuel dragster driven by Leah Pritchett and 2013 Top Fuel world champion Shawn Langdon 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 295 NHRA national event titles and 16 world championships.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Wolf (wolfj@shoeracing.com), 702.524.1368
Leah Vaughn (vaughnl@shoeracing.com), 618.516.1988
