NORWALK, Ohio (June 24, 2017) - As Jack Beckman rolled to the starting line in the first session on Saturday in Terry Chandler's Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car, he was not yet qualified for the 16-car field of Sunday's 11th annual NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
After some pedal work, he made a lap of 4.321 seconds at 224.88 mph. But, the team didn't want to settle for the precarious No. 15 spot.
During the final session, Beckman made a lap of 3.971 seconds (322.04) to securely seed him No. 9.
"I'm not sure what happened last night during the killer conditions," Beckman said of Friday night's cool track temperatures. "I felt something and lifted and we lost all the computer data.
"We had a malfunction with the battery and we didn't get anything so we lost the ability to use that as a data acquisition run. That kind of painted us into a corner.
"We went up there Q3, not qualified when we pulled up to the starting line, it spun early and I took it much farther than I normally would on a qualifying run, hoping it would be enough to get us in. It did, but we were still precarious going into Q4.
"After Courtney (Force) ran first and didn't end up qualifying for Sunday, we knew we were in but we didn't want to go into race day knowing we were No. 15.
"I'm really proud of the guys for rallying together and making a great call to move us way up in the field and giving us a chance at a trophy tomorrow."
Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation team Powered by Pennzoil, won the event two weeks ago in Englishtown and advanced to the final round last weekend at the Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.
Beckman has won twice in Norwalk as the Infinite Hero team looks for its second win this season in the final event of the June Swing, which was four races in four weeks.
JACK BECKMAN, Terry Chandler's Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T
Crew chiefs: Dean Antonelli, John Medlen, Neal Strausbaugh
SUNDAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATIONS
First round: Cruz Pedregon
QUALIFYING RESULTS
Qualified: No. 9
FRIDAY: 12.165 sec., 81.77 mph, (Session 1); 6.723, 103.40, (Session 2)
SATURDAY: 4.321, 224.88, (Session 3); 3.971, 322.04, (Session 4)
Best Time, Speed: 3.825 sec., (2016 Pomona 2); 334.15 mph (Seattle 2016)
NORWALK BY THE NUMBERS
Last event (June 18), Bristol, Tenn.: Qualified No. 5, lost in championship round to Ron Capps
A year ago at Norwalk: Qualified No. 5, lost in first round to Alexis DeJoria
Career at Norwalk: Wins 2 (2009, 2015); Runner-ups 0; Poles 0
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
