BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 18, 2017) - Sunday was a rematch of last weekend's race in Englishtown, N.J., for the trophy but this week Jack Beckman and Terry Chandler's Infinite Hero Foundation Funny Car team was not on the winning side of the fence.
"Nobody likes losing a final round but when I got back to the pits and the mood of this whole team, I knew that we're right back in the thick of this thing," said Beckman who scored the team's first win of the season last weekend at the NHRA Summernationals when he beat Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps.
Sunday, it was Capps who was able to go to the winner's circle.
"We're slowly getting our groove on and figuring out what the car wants and everybody's excited," Beckman said.
On Sunday, the Infinite Hero team, led by crew chiefs Dean Antonelli, John Medlen and Neal Strausbaugh, entered race day as the No. 5 qualified car with a time of 3.959 seconds at 322.96 mph.
He lined up against former Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon for the opening session of competition. The car dropped a cylinder but Beckman got the win with a 4.172 (303.43) as Pedregon went into tire smoke.
The Infinite Hero team then matched up against Courtney Force of John Force Racing for the second round. Beckman went into smoke but got the win with a 4.321 (276.75) as Force also smoked to a 4.343.
In the semifinals, Beckman lined up with his Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Tommy Johnson Jr., also sponsored by Terry Chandler.
The two ran a close race and Beckman got the win light. He cruised to a 4.009 (318.99) over Johnson's 4.043.
Finally, Beckman met another DSR teammate in the final round. That teammate was the reigning Funny Car champion, Capps.
Last weekend, Beckman got the win over Capps but this weekend Capps got the win. Beckman ran a 4.040 (317.05) but Capps got to the finish line first with a 4.050.
"We didn't get trounced we lost a fantastic drag race," Beckman said. "We both had good lights. Ron rolled in a little farther than me but if you look, those cars were welded together the whole way down the drag strip.
"They out performed us by five-thousandths of a second. That's the way drag races should look and if we keep going the direction we are, those races will start going our way. I'm disappointed we lost, I can wait to get to Norwalk."
Next weekend, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series heads to the Midwest for the fourth race of June's four-race swing in four weeks for the 11th annual NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
DSR FUNNY CARS
Event winner: Ron Capps (Don Schumacher Racing)
No. 1 qualifier: Tim Wilkerson (Tim Wilkerson Motorsports) 3.895 sec., 328.22 mph
JACK BECKMAN, Terry Chandler's Infinite Hero Foundation 2017 Dodge Charger R/T
Crew chiefs: Dean Antonelli, John Medlen, Neal Strausbaugh
Qualified: No. 5
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: BECKMAN 4,172 sec., 303.43) def. Cruz Pedregon (4.302275.28
Second round: BECKMAN (4.321, 276.75) def. Courtney Force (4.343, 221.42)
Semifinals: BECKMAN (4.009, 318.79) def. Tommy Johnson Jr. (4.043, 313.29)
Final: Ron Capps (4.054, 317.05) def. BECKMAN (4.040, 319.29)
QUALIFYING RESULTS
FRIDAY: 4.162 sec., 251.49 mph, (Session 1); 4.000, 322.96, (Session 2)
SATURDAY: 6.635, 97.05, (Session 3); 3.959, 318.62, (Session 4)
2017 NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNY CAR STANDINGS
(Unofficial after Bristol, Tenn.; 11th of 24 events; wins in parenthesis; DSR drivers in CAPS)
1. RON CAPPS (5) 1,044 -----
2. MATT HAGAN (3) 881 -163
3. JACK BECKMAN (1) 768 -276
4. Robert Hight 707 -337
5. Courtney Force 704 -340
6. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. (1) 663 -381
7. John Force (1) 641 -403
9. Tim Wilkerson 490 -554
8. J.R. Todd 476 -578
10. Cruz Pedregon 397 -647
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, 2016 world champion the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge of Ron Capps and the Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr.
DSR has won 309 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
