DSR: Beckman’s wild ride in Infinite Hero Dodge starts day at beach, nearly finishes in winner’s circle in Southern Nationals near Atlanta

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 15, 2016) – Right behind Jack Beckman’s love for his family and drag racing is his passion for surfing.

It’s not just catching the big waves but the process of getting his board wet requires the solace of walking on sand.

Sand is a nice part of surfing, but it is never good to walk on it after completing a 328-mph run down a dragstrip. When he got out of his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Sunday after winning in the opening round of the NHRA Southern Nationals near Atlanta, his beach experience resulted after his parachutes failed and he drove his Dodge into the sand trap passed the asphalt surface.

“I haven’t played in the sand for years, and I don’t recommend it,” he said. “It was certainly not what we wanted to do. But you know what, that’s why we have these run-off areas. I still had a lot of speed going into the sand, and I was just hoping it wasn’t going to go into the (safety) net.

“We got some great tune-up data from that run, and thanks to my wonderful crew our day wasn’t over. I just prefer win lights without sand.

“Putting the car in the sand took a huge team effort from our Infinite Hero crew and other DSR crew members came over to help us.”

After replacing the Dodge Charger R/T body and thoroughly cleaning out the sand, he turned on two win lights before racing teammate Matt Hagan in the final round.

Beckman’s first round sojourn after a run of 3.911 seconds at 328.86, which was faster that what it took for him to earn his fourth No. 1 qualifying position in seven Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events, was second best of the round to teammate Matt Hagan, whose Rocky Boots/Mopar Dodge went on to beat Beckman in the final round.

Before the last run, Beckman and crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham escaped close races against DSR teammates. In the second round, Beckman’s 3.989 (323.81) edged out Capps’ 3.992 (320.81). In the semifinals, Beckman beat teammate Tommy Johnson Jr., who like Beckman is sponsored by Terry Chandler.

But Beckman wasn’t able to get past Hagan in the final round. Hagan took the track’s time and speed records away from Beckman in the first round and continued to be the quickest in each of the last three rounds.

“That’s going to be a great car and you saw some of that this weekend,” Beckman said of Hagan.
“We had a great day and a rewarding weekend. We made a lot of strides in our tune-up and went from fifth to second in the standings so we made up some points. It’s still frustrating to get to a final and lose.

“Now we go into Topeka before we have a week off and start four in-a-row. But we’ll go into that with a mean car.”

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Motorsport.com: Jack Beckman clinches the No. 1 position in Atlanta

Jack Beckman runs the best of qualifying to clinch the No. 1 position at the 2016 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Atlanta. Beckman cements his spot at the front of the field with a 3.975, the quickest run of the session. Beckman is the No. 1 qualifier for the 19th time in his career and the fourth time this season. He will race Jim Campbell in round one.

Watch tonight on FOX Sports 1 10p ET.

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Fox News: Jack Beckman tops Funny Car qualifying at Atlanta Dragway

Jack Beckman topped Funny Car qualifying Saturday in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

The two-time Atlanta winner used his track-record 3.939-second run at 326.32 mph from Friday night in his Dodge Charger R/T night to earn his fourth No. 1 of the season and 19th of his career.

"I'm happy where we are, qualifying No. 1," said Beckman, the 2012 Funny Car season champion.
"It's nice for a little bit of prestige, you get some bonus points that go with it, and it's maybe even nicer because you get a more favorable matchup first round. The whole idea behind that is to play it smart and strategic and win four rounds on Sunday. I think I'll sleep well tonight and come in tomorrow embracing the fact that we'll be the favorite."

Doug Kalitta led the Top Fuel field, Greg Anderson was fastest in Pro Stock, and Angelle Sampey topped the Pro Stock Motorcycle lineup.

Kalitta, the winner two weeks ago outside Houston, powered his dragster to a 3.731 at 328.70 on Friday night to take the No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel. Kalitta reset Atlanta Dragway's elapsed time track record and earned his second No. 1 qualifier of the season and 45th of his career.

Anderson also used his Friday night performance, a leading performance of 6.610 at 210.14 in his Chevy Camaro. The four-time Atlanta winner has four No. 1 qualifiers this season and has raced to three victories in the first six races of the year. This is his seventh top qualifier at Atlanta Dragway and the 84th of his career.

Sampey rode her Buell to her first No. 1 qualifier since 2008 with a 6.865 at 193.32 from Friday night. She has four victories at Atlanta Dragway.

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DSR: Qualifying success continues for Beckman, Infinite Hero team with year’s fourth pole, first in Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 14, 2016) – Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation team have made qualifying look easy so far in the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Beckman and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T team sponsored by Terry Chandler earned their fourth No. 1 qualifying position of the season with their third NHRA track time record of the year to lead Don Schumacher Racing’s four Funny Cars into the top-half of the 16-car field for Sunday’s championship eliminations in the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

“I’m happy with where we are now,” Beckman said. “Qualifying No. 1 is nice for a bit of prestige you get, and you also get some qualifying bonus points with that run. It’s also nice because you can get a more favorable match-up in the first round tomorrow, but the whole part of that is to play it smart strategically and win four rounds on Sunday.”

That part has been the challenge for 2012 world champion Beckman and the Infinite Hero team led by crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham who have yet to reach a final round this season.

“In Gainesville, we definitely had a car where we could win,” Beckman said. “Other than that this year, we have stubbed our toe a lot of times. When the track got warm, if it didn’t wear the clutch just right, we didn’t make it very far. I think that the changes that we’ve made have now given us as good of a hot weather package as anyone else out there.”

The Infinite Hero team started to see success with their hot weather tune-up during Saturday qualifying at Atlanta Dragway with elapsed times of 4.033-seconds and 3.975-seconds.

But if weather forecasters are correct for Sunday in Commerce, Ga., it could be ideal for Prock and company with a high of 76 degrees and cloudy skies.

“I’ll sleep well tonight and come in tomorrow embracing the fact that we’re going to be the favorites. There are so many great cars out here that you have to go back to the cliché ‘race them one at a time.’ I’m looking forward to it.”

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Motorsport.com: Jack Beckman takes qualifying lead in Atlanta

Two-time Atlanta winner Jack Beckman took the qualifying lead in Funny Car with a track record performance of 3.939 at 326.32 in his Dodge Charger R/T. Beckman has three No. 1 qualifiers already this season but is still chasing his first victory of the year. He has 18 No. 1 qualifiers in his career but none in Atlanta at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

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Fox Sports: NHRA's Jack Beckman breaks track record during Friday qualifying

By Bobby Bennett May 14, 2016 at 9:42a ET Atlanta

 

Jack Beckman is known for grabbing all the gusto a track can hold but on Friday night qualifying at the NHRA Summit Southern Nationals, he left a little on the table for Saturday.

Beckman, a two-time Southern Nationals champion, thundered to the top spot with an Atlanta Dragway track record 3.939 elapsed time at 326.32 miles per hour. Joining the past NHRA champion provisionally atop their respective categories were Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Beckman has three No. 1 qualifiers to his credit this season and 18 in career, but none from the track located outside of Atlanta, Ga.

“This year we have not had the same performances as we did last year,” Beckman admitted. “We are fine when the track conditions are cool, but we’re struggling when it’s warm. There’s still some more performance in this car. At the end of the day, end of the weekend, end of the race, really the only thing that matters is holding up that trophy with your group in the winner’s circle. We haven’t even been to a final yet, and I’m hoping this Sunday is our first one.”

Beckman edged out teammate Matt Hagan, who was second. Courtney Force was third and earlier in the day recorded the track's first three-second Funny Car run and picked up four points to pull ahead of Tim Wilkerson in the point standings.

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Bobby Bennett is the Publisher/Editor of CompetitionPlus.com, a leading independent online drag racing magazine, since 1999. For the latest in dragster news worldwide, visit www.competitionplus.com or follow on Twitter @competitionplus

NHRA: Kalitta, Beckman, Anderson, Sampey lead after opening day in Atlanta

Two-time Atlanta winner Beckman took the qualifying lead in Funny Car with a track record performance of 3.939 at 326.32 in his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T. Beckman has three No. 1 qualifiers already this season but is still chasing his first victory of the year. He has 18 No. 1 qualifiers in his career but none in Atlanta.

“This year we have not had the same performances as we did last year,” said Beckman, who raced to a career-high seven victories in 2015. “We are fine when the track conditions are cool, but we’re struggling when it’s warm. There’s still some more performance in this car. At the end of the day, end of the weekend, end of the race, really the only thing that matters is holding up that trophy with your group in the winner’s circle. We haven’t even been to a final yet, and I’m hoping this Sunday is our first one.”




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DSR: Beckman edges DSR teammate Hagan for Atlanta provisional pole while Langdon leads team’s four dragsters after first day of qualifying

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 13, 2016) – Now that’s more like it.

After winning 27 NHRA national event titles last year, including 15 in Funny Car, DSR has only mustered one title each thus far this season in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

Friday could be a hint the DSR juggernaut is getting close to returning to full power.

Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T led Don Schumacher Racing the top of the Funny Car field after the first day of qualifying in the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway with a track-record-setting performance.

And close behind in the No. 2 position, with two more sessions scheduled for Saturday, is DSR teammate Matt Hagan in the Rocky Boots/Mopar Dodge whose Dodge Charger R/T also blasted the previous records.

Beckman with crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham led the Terry Chandler-sponsored Dodge to a time of 3.939 seconds at 326.32 mph. The team is on the cusp of earning its fourth No. 1 qualifying position through the first seven races of the 24-event Mello Yello season but has yet to win this season after winning a series-best event times last year.

“We are fine when track conditions are cool like they were tonight, but we’ve been struggling when it’s warm,” said the 2012 Funny Car world champion.

“The first session we ran a 4.07 that put us in the middle of the pack. It’s tough to make a big change when you’re middle of the pack, but because there are only 16 cars here everyone will run on Sunday. That meant Jimmy was able to take a hard shot at it.”

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DSR: Infinite Hero Dodge recovers for semifinals finish at Houston, Beckman confident gains will pay off this weekend near Atlanta

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (May 10, 2016) – None of Don Schumacher Racing’s four Funny Car teams have won as many times at Atlanta Dragway than Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T team led by crew chief Jimmy Prock.

Beckman won at the track 70 miles northeast of Atlanta in Commerce, Ga., in 2009 and 2011.

More important than ending that drought for the 2012 Funny Car world champion is to post his first win of this Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season after six events and his team’s first since the 21st of 24 events in 2015.

The team assistant crew chiefs John Medlen and Chris Cunningham have devoted several races to putting the team in position to win the championship, but it’s time to win as the Mello Yello series faces two consecutive weekends of racing then after a weekend off faces a run of four in a row.

“We’ve been having a consistency issue this year specifically when the racetrack gets warmer,” said Beckman, whose team sponsored by Terry Chandler dominated the Funny Car category last year with seven event titles, seven No. 1 qualifying awards and numerous performance records.

The Infinite Hero Dodge has qualified strong this year with three poles in the first six events, but continues trying to blend qualifying performance with results in Sunday eliminations.

At Houston, the team struggled in qualifying and rallied on Sunday.

“We made a major change Saturday night in Houston after struggling in all four qualifying sessions,” Beckman said. “The results on Sunday were very promising. I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
“Our car is running good enough to win a race, but we want to get it back to where we dominate.”

After not getting to the finish line under power in four qualifying runs that left the team qualified 12th, Beckman rebounded with three runs in eliminations between 3.941 and 3.958 seconds that led to the semifinals where he was sidelined by Tim Wilkerson’s 3.906, the quickest of the day.

“Big changes were made to the car overnight, and it showed how well our team works together,” said Beckman, who is seventh in Mello Yello championship points. “Our crew chiefs are able to put their heads together, make some educated guesses.

“It was disappointing to not win but the silver lining is that we found some things about this car that will help us at Atlanta.”

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DSR: Beckman reaches semifinal round with impressive turnaround performance for Infinite Hero team at NHRA SpringNationals

BAYTOWN, Texas (May 1, 2016) – Jack Beckman was unable to leave Houston with his first NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event title from the track, but he likes how his team responded from subpar qualifying runs to enable him to advance to the final round of the NHRA SpringNationals.

Beckman and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T led by crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham came within a whisker of advancing to the final round Sunday.

In the opening round, the Infinite Hero Dodge upset previous points leader Robert Hight with a time of 3.958 seconds at 319.67 mph. In the second round, Beckman’s quicker reaction time at the starting line allowed his slower 3.949 (325.22) to post the holeshot win.

“Yesterday I said we had painted ourselves into a corner and we faced a big uphill battle,” Beckman said. “I knew we would be the underdog coming into today. We were racing a team who had made a lot better runs that we had. We hadn’t even made it to the finish line in qualifying on any of our four runs.”

The Infinite Hero team funded by Terry Chandler posted its second semifinals finish after six of 24 events in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

The turnaround from qualifying on Friday and Saturday to Sunday was impressive.

“Big changes were made to the car overnight and this shows how well our team works together,” said Beckman, who is seventh in Mello Yello championship points. “Our crew chiefs are able to put their heads together, make some educated guesses and there’s the proof. We ended up 10-thousanths of a second from winning in the semifinals and getting to another final round.

“It’s disappointing to not win but the silver lining is that we found some things about this car that will help us down the line. We came out of here with semifinals points and we’re headed in a direction that makes me very excited to get to the next race in two weeks in Atlanta.”

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