"I'm confident - and I truly am - and I'm not just saying that!" said Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car champion. "I think every driver should think that, but I have every reason to believe that.
"There's a lot of fire power on this team. Nobody is a newbie on the team, it's just the first time we've worked together as a group."
The team is definitely new, starting with the crew chiefs. Don Schumacher Racing veteran assistant Neal Strausbaugh joined the team after serving on the U.S. Army Top Fuel team for several years. Strausbaugh is joined by DSR newcomer Dean Antonelli. John Medlen is one of only two holdovers from last year's team.
Aside from the trio of crew chiefs, there are several new faces on the crew as well, the majority of which came onboard from within DSR from varies teams.
"Remember, this is a bunch of dragster guys. We shortened the car up, put the motor on the other side of the driver and slapped a body on it and I think they're doing a fantastic job of getting up to speed with the adjustment," Beckman said.
During the first round of qualifying, Beckman had to pedal his Funny Car and coasted to a 4.1.53-second lap at 295.14 mph. Later Friday night, rain cancelled the second session for most teams.
On Saturday, Beckman ran into problems again and his car quit before the finish line, resulting in a 5.937 (123.42). Finally, during the final qualifying session, Beckman clocked a 3.894 at 333.99 mph to earn the No. 8 seed and will race former world champion Cruz Pedregon in the opening round of eliminations.
"That 3.89 was far from a perfect run," Beckman said. "The speed showed some potential. We actually softened (the tune-up) up but it was a little weak on ET (elapsed time).
"We tested well a week ago, we had a lot of good time slips from that. But they don't count. They're not for points, they're not for a trophy, they're not during a race."
 |
| Photo Credit: Auto Imagery |
Crew chiefs: John Medlen, Dean Antonelli, Neal Strausbaugh
First round opponent: Cruz Pedregon
Qualified: No. 8
QUALIFYING
FRIDAY: 4.153 sec., 295.14 mph, (Session 1); rained out, (Session 2)
SATURDAY: 5.937, 123.42, (Session 3); 3.853, 327.43, (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 293 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
