DSR: Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge team qualify No. 2 spot for Sunday's eliminations in NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway near St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (Sept. 24, 2016) - Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation team, sponsored by Terry Chandler, Sunday at Gateway Motorsports Park in the No. 2 qualifying position and look for their second event win of the season.

This weekend, Beckman and the crew struggled during qualifying as they only made one clean pass down the racetrack at the fifth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.
However, the one clean pass was good enough for the No. 2 qualifying position.

"If you look at the Infinite Hero team at the end of qualifying, you'll see that we qualified No. 2 and that doesn't tell the whole story," Beckman said.

"If you look at the details, you'll see we smoked the tires three out of four times and that doesn't tell the whole story."

During the opening round of qualifying on Friday, Beckman went into tire smoke but then during second session, he clocked a 3.907-second pass at 325.22 mph. He also picked up two bonus points in the session as he was second best of the round.

Unfortunately, on Saturday there was more tire smoke for the Infinite Hero Foundation team as they fought to go down the hot, sticky track in summer-like conditions during the first weekend of fall.
Beckman and his crew chief, Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham, will face Dale Creasy Jr. on Sunday for the first round of eliminations.

"Qualifying No. 2 gives you a pretty decent first round match-up. We can probably afford to go up there and do a little bit of experimenting but we also need to try and run a mid-3.90," Beckman said.

"We'll run very well when the car responds to all of our changes. With the recent revisions we've made in the bellhousing, we need data. So the fact that we smoked the tires on three of the four runs doesn't mean we're lost. It means we're trying different things and seeing what the car likes there."

Aside from the NHRA event Wally trophy, Beckman and his team are looking to advance in the NHRA Mello Yello points standings as they compete for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

When entering the race weekend, the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team was eighth in points. A good race weekend could place them in a better positon for the NHRA Championship title.

"2012 was the last time I won St. Louis and that year ended for me about as perfect as a year could end for a driver," Beckman said, referring to his 2012 Funny Car world championship.

"At this point, every single round is huge. The cars that are top three and four in points, they're not going out first early. We can't rely on them stumbling. We have to go deep every single race day from here on out."

Photo Credit: Auto Imagery

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DSR: Beckman, Infinite Hero Foundation team fight to stay in the hunt for NHRA championship this weekend at NHRA Midwest Nationals

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 21, 2016) - The Infinite Hero Foundation team has some ground to make up this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis at the fifth annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.

Photo Credit: Auto Imagery

Last weekend at the Countdown to the Championship opener, the Carolina Nationals near Charlotte, Beckman and his team suffered a first-round loss to the lower qualified but reigning world champion Del Worsham of Kalitta Motorsports.

After their early loss, they fell from fourth in the points to eighth and will begin racing Friday trailing Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps by 110.

"Right now, I can't say how essential St. Louis would be because I don't have a crystal ball," Beckman said.

"What I can say is the maximum number of rounds you can compete in during the Countdown is 24. We just crossed four of those rounds off the list from Charlotte with zero points. When you got out first round, you can't earn any points for the rest of the day."

"Now for us, there's a maximum of 20 rounds left and each win pays 20 points. John Force already has four round wins after winning the Charlotte trophy. Ron Capps has two round wins. We have none.

Photo Credit: Auto Imagery

"We have to create some momentum and show the capabilities ow what this team can do. And for everyone's mental wellbeing, we need to hold another trophy real soon to remind us what we're capable of."

The Infinite Hero Foundation team won their first and only event title earlier this season near Chicago.

"2012 was the last time I won St. Louis and that year ended for me about as perfect as a year could end for a driver," Beckman said, referring to his 2012 Funny Car world championship.

"This time last year, we had won six races, set the record four times and it looked like we were on our way to the championship and things just didn't work out for us. But we still had a wonderful year."

In 2015, Beckman came up short of winning the championship after winning seven event titles.

"Right now, we've won one race, we've reset the national record once this year. It looks like the odds are stacked against us for the championship. But we're only six rounds out of the lead. What we need to do is try to take advantage of as many of those 20 rounds as we can possibly participate in. That really means we have to go the final in St. Louis if we have a realistic shot at winning the title."

For additional information, please visit Don Schumacher Racing.

DSR: Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge team experience frustrating day with first-round loss near Charlotte to start Countdown playoff

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 18, 2016) – Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation team, funded by Terry Chandler, left zMAX Dragway near Charlotte frustrated after a first-round loss at the ninth annual NHRA Carolina Nationals.

Beckman lined up against reigning world champion Del Worsham of Kalitta Motorsports in the opening round of Sunday’s championship eliminations after making three solid qualifying passes that seeded them No. 5 position over No. 12 qualifier Worsham.

Beckman and crew chief Jimmy Prock had lane choice over Worsham but their day ended quickly when Beckman went into tire smoke as he slowed to a 4.275-second pass at 220.31 mph to Worsham’s 3.976.

“Frustrating. We struggled first round in Indy and we never really found the smoking gun. Now, we know the cause – it’s a bellhousing issue,” Beckman said.

“You’ve got a series of clutch discs that apply torque as soon as you step on the throttle and when they don’t do it in a predictable manner, you have to change something. We made a change coming into Charlotte.

“It looked pretty decent in qualifying. It was a really a warm racetrack in the first round but we had data from that. Everything we did should have allowed this car to go down the track and run a 3.95.

“Then we went out to 400 feet and knocked the tires loose and now we’ve painted ourselves into a corner. We will make a (clutch) disc change going into the next race – something you really don’t like doing this late in the year. The problem is our consistency. We run good numbers but every once in a while, it’s like Russian Roulette and that bullet comes up and our car does something unpredictable.”

Beckman and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T team know the importance of round wins during the NHRA Countdown to the Championship. In 2015, they entered the Carolina Nationals as the points leader but because of an first-round loss, the points lead went to Worsham, who went on to win the 2015 Funny Car Championship.

“Here we are in the Countdown and we didn’t just lose first round, we lost the ability to gain points over four rounds of racing.

“It’s a very different sport in drag racing. You can’t go back out there after having a spin out in the first lap and make laps to gain points. You’re finished for the day. We lost 80 points today and we can’t keep spotting those other teams those points when you’re competing for a championship.”

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Infinite Hero Foundation team with Beckman heads south to Charlotte for redemption when Countdown to the Championship begins Friday

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 14, 2016) - Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation team, sponsored by Terry Chandler, head into the Countdown to the Championship playoffs seeded fifth in the NHRA Funny Car points standings.

The team, led by crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham, know how crucial this weekend's event at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte is in the hunt for a championship.

In 2015, Beckman entered the NHRA Carolina Nationals as the top seed but lost the lead to Kalitta Motorsports' Del Worsham, who went on to win the NHRA Funny Car championship.

"Relative to Del, when we left Indianapolis last year, we had a 17-round lead over them," Beckman said. "When we left Charlotte, they were leading us in the points.

"That's how important Charlotte can be. Nobody has a crystal ball and you can't look forward to the last race of the year at Pomona and say, 'Oh gosh, if we would have just done this different in Charlotte!' Because of that, I think the importance of every run is pretty obvious to every nitro competitor out there. You don't know how things are going to end up over the course of six races in the Countdown.
"You have to leave Charlotte with a high level of comfort."

Beckman and the team are looking for redemption after an upsetting loss in the first round of eliminations of the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend. The loss led to them dropping from third to fifth in points to start the Countdown.

"Boy, did we struggle in Indy," Beckman said.

"The frustrating thing about what happened in Indy, when we smoked the tires instantly in the first round, is that we didn't find a smoking gun. We know why the car did that, in the general sense. We don't know why the car did that, in a specific sense. We feel like we have a good direction to make it safer, but it's frustrating when you take a tune-up up there that should run a certain performance and it doesn't come close. Those are the ones that leave us scratching our heads.

"The silver lining is, we left Indy 15 rounds out of the lead and now, we're only three rounds behind."

Currently, Beckman sits in fifth in the NHRA points, only 60 points behind his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps, the No. 1 seed.

"What we need right now is good execution every time we tow to the starting line - not just elimination runs. Those are worth 20 points apiece but each qualifying run is potentially a three-point gain. We have to treat every single run like it's the final round of the U.S. Nationals.

"We're going to put every effort we can to being the quickest car going down the track and making consistent runs every time we tow up there."

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DSR: Beckman, Infinite Hero team focuses on Countdown to Championship after disappointing early exit from NHRA U.S. Nationals near Indy

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 5, 2016) - A year ago, "Fast Jack" Beckman and the Terry Chandler-funded Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team, achieved maybe the biggest accomplishment in the sport of NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing by winning the prestigious U.S. Nationals two days after winning the Traxxas Nitro Shootout .

Now, Beckman and his purple-clad team are eyeing an even larger prize when the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello season concludes in Southern California on Nov. 13, a second NHRA Funny Car world championship.

"When we won Chicago early this year, I didn't feel optimal and yet we won the race," Beckman said of his team's only win this season in July. "I keep a log book on the cars performance and my performance. My mental focus wasn't great and we won the race. I got up this morning with every reason to believe we were going to win this race. A great night's sleep, good concentration, great focus until one-and-a-half feet into the run and the car did something that baffled us. We weren't trying to be aggressive. We were trying to race smart. Hopefully that is out of the way so it doesn't bite us in the Countdown."

Beckman's weekend couldn't have started much better Friday evening under the lights at the famed Indianapolis strip. After participating in the 11th annual DSR Open House that raised more than $70,000 for Riley Hospital for Children, Beckman's Jimmy Prock-tuned Dodge clocked the second quickest pass of the weekend at 3.859 seconds to qualify the Infinite Hero team in the No. 2 position.

On the rare Monday race day, Beckman's Infinite Hero flopper barely rotated the tires before losing traction as underdog opponent Dave Richards scored the upset victory against the defending race winner.

Beckman will enter the six-race playoff as the No. 5 seed trailing teammate Ron Capps by 60 points or three rounds of racing. Beckman finishes the 2016 regular season with a mark of 25 round wins, 17 losses, one race win, three runners-up and four No. 1 qualifiers.

"We're going to be optimistic," Beckman said of the Countdown to the Championship. "We've got six races left. We're not going in as a top-two seed and we're going to have to execute flawlessly the next six races and there's no group of people I'd rather surround myself with than this group on the Infinite Hero team. Bad weekend at Indy, but good things ahead for the Infinite Hero car.

"We've been on the other side of this, last year we surrendered an enormous point's lead. This year Capps and the NAPA has to do the same thing. Our goal is to concentrate on round wins. I'm not even concerned with race trophies right now, just round wins."

The six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff begins at zMAX Dragway at Concord, N.C., near Charlotte, on Sept. 16.

Photo Credit: Auto Imagery

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DSR: Beckman, Infinite Hero team look to defend U.S. Nationals title, will start eliminations on Labor Day near Indy seeded No. 2

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 4, 2016) - Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T team funded by Terry Chandler head into the 62nd annual U.S. Nationals eliminations as the No. 2 qualifier and look to repeat their win from last year.

The Jimmy Prock-led team with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham posted a 3.859-second pass to earn lane choice when they face Dave Richards in Monday's opening round.

"We unload and 'Wow!' 3.859, one-thousandth off the track record and one-thousandth from the pole position," Beckman said of his first qualifying pass of the weekend.

"We get the new track record in speed, and then we struggled a little bit.

"In Indy, we get five qualifying shots here so our last one is a representation of what we can see tomorrow. And tomorrow, it's going to be a completely different day," Beckman said.

"We have run late all three days that we've made qualifying runs and now we're going to come out and make our first run in the morning for the first time of the entire event."

The run of show of the U.S. Nationals is unique to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series because it is the only race to consist of three days of qualifying. Teams get five chances to take on the track to gain as much information as possible as they prepare for the biggest day of the session.

"Track conditions should be good for first round. We're No. 2 but we have to try to protect lane choice and we need to be aggressive.

"At the end of the day, we want to be standing there holding our second consecutive Indy trophy. There's a ton of big hitters standing in our way. We can do it."

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DSR: Beckman, Chandler's Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge look to repeat "Dream Weekend" this weekend in U.S. Nationals

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Aug. 30, 2016) - Last year at the U.S. Nationals, near Indianapolis, Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation team, sponsored by Terry Chandler, had the best possible weekend for a drag racing team.

To start, they won the unique "race within a race" $100,000 Traxxas Nitro Shootout event. They then were the No. 1 qualifying team heading into race day on Labor Day and closed out the weekend by winning the prestigious U.S. Nationals event, snapping a 14-year winless streak for Don Schumacher Racing Funny Cars at Indy.

This year is the 62nd annual event and the tale has a much different beginning than last year.

Beckman has not locked in his spot for the Traxxas Nitro Shootout as one of the first seven event winners of the season.

Although he and the Infinite Hero Dodge won the Mello Yello title on July 10 near Chicago, their only route to getting into Saturday's Shootout will be determined on Wednesday during NHRA Fanfest at Monument Circle in Downtown Indianapolis.

The eighth and final spot will be determined by a lottery weighted by the results of a social media fan vote.

"Last year was a dream weekend winning the Traxxas Shootout and then taking the Wally home the next day," said the 2012 Funny Car world champion. "It was hot, it was nasty and a marathon.

"There really wasn't any time to celebrate after winning the Shootout because we had to get up Monday and do it all over again but on a bigger stage racing for a U.S. Nationals trophy."

And his Infinite Hero Foundation team did just that.

"It was as close to a perfect racing weekend a drag racer could have," he said.

"The coolest part about going to a race that you won the previous year is that you might make it onto the cover of the event program," Beckman said of his win last year. "That's a reminder of being the last person standing at the end of last year's tough week."

Beckman and crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham are currently No. 4 in the NHRA Funny Car points standings. Following the U.S. Nationals, the points will be reset as the series heads into the Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoff format that will determine which of the 10 Funny Car drivers will take home the 2016 championship.

Photo Credit: Auto Imagery

"Right now it's about points and starting the Countdown as high as you possibly can. That 150 percent points payout at Indy puts a bigger carrot at the end of the stick at Indy," Beckman said.

Leading up to the U.S. Nationals, several of the NHRA teams, including seven of the eight Don Schumacher Racing teams, tested at the Indianapolis track in preparation for this weekend.

Beckman's Dodge Charger R/T made several runs down the race track testing different aspects of the car.

"We actually treated this like a test session," Beckman said. "A lot of teams come out here to practice one thing or another; to get the driver up to speed, get a new crew member up to speed, sort out the tune up.

"We actually tried some different clutch levers and a different clutch disc because we know at some point, it may not be this year, we're going to have to make some changes to be back at the top.

"A lot of times a scoreboard won't tell you how good a test session is. Sometimes, it's three or four months later when you recognize when you can implement something you learned during that test session."

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For additional information, please visit Don Schumacher Racing.

DSR: Beckman ready to return to Indianapolis for U.S. Nationals after early round exit for Infinite Hero Dodge team Sunday at Brainerd

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 21, 2016) - Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T team, sponsored by Terry Chandler, didn't look like a team that was lost in the second round Sunday afternoon at the 35th annual NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

Beckman qualified No. 4 with his 3.859-second pass at 308.85 mph in his third qualifying session.  In the opening round of competition, the Infinite Hero team led by crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham ran a 3.859 at 330.15 to beat Cruz Pedregon.

The team moved into round two where they were matched against Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps. Beckman's car didn't make a full pass and he coasted to a 4.087 at 238.85 mph and the win went to Capps' 3.909 at 305.56 mph.

"It's interesting because we just lost second round. We're very frustrated and we're in here doing the interview and everyone is very upbeat because we have a team and a car that can win a lot of races," Beckman said of his team.

Beckman says his team has an optimistic attitude heading into the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series Countdown to the Championship because they know when the points standings are reset after the U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis, that the big hitters come to play.

"Look what (Del Worsham's) team did last year. They had a similar season to ours this year but gave notice they'd be tough then they came alive in the Countdown," Beckman said of Worsham who won the Funny Car world title last year.

"We're not doing this intentionally. We're not saving all our wins for later in the year but we're certainly capable of running off a streak of wins. It was an amazing weekend, performance wise. We just got bit in the second round. We don't know if we pushed too hard or just had an issue in the bellhousing," Beckman said.

Next week the Mello Yello series off but DSR and other top teams will at  Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis before the prestigious U.S. Nationals.

"I'll be home for two days. I'll mow the lawn; I'll spend time with the kids. I'll head back out to Indy. We'll test for a day or two. Then fly back home for a few days then back out to Indy for the race."

Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation team not only took home the win at Indy but also the Traxxas Nitro Shootout race last year.
This year, they are looking to repeat both titles.

"We still have the Traxxas deal. We're still looking for the fan vote in that. There's a lot of things on the table for us from here to the end of the year. I think it's right that we're upbeat. Yeah, we're frustrated but we know what we're capable of."

Photo Credit: Auto Imagery

FUNNY CAR
Winner: Del Worsham (Kalitta Motorsports)
No. 1 qualifier: Matt Hagan (Don Schumacher Racing), 3.822 sec.-world record, 333.02-track record

JACK BECKMAN, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 4
SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATIONS
First round: BECKMAN (3.859 sec., 330.15) def. Cruz Pedregon (4.838, 163.45)
Second round: Ron Capps (3.909, 305.56) def. BECKMAN (4.087, 238.85)
QUALIFYING
FRIDAY: 3.917 sec., 326.24 mph, (Session 1); 3.901, 295.14, (Session 2)
SATURDAY: 3.859, 308.85, (Session 3); 9.001, 63.29, (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 seven 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 two-time world champion Antron Brown and the Sandvik Coromant/Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher dragster driven by Shawn Langdon and in Funny Car, 2011 and 2014 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane/Rocky Boots 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 283 NHRA national event titles and 14 world championships.
Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing.




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DSR: Beckman comes close to career best, possibly record run, with Infinite Hero Dodge on cool, quick Saturday at Brainerd

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 20, 2016) - The Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T, sponsored by Terry Chandler and piloted by Jack Beckman, was on its way to a career best elapsed time.

Unfortunately, they came up just five-thousandths of a second short during the third round of qualifying at Brainerd International Raceway at the 35th annual NHRA Nationals in northern Minnesota.

Possibly the most impressive part of Beckman's 3.859-second lap at 308.85 mph was that the car didn't make a full pass down the racetrack.

"We don't want to push it too hard so what happens when you're that quick early, we hit our REV limiter sooner and it takes a bunch of timing out. The motor is not happy and it drops a cylinder and eats up the blower belt. But otherwise, oh my gosh, what that could have been."

After scattered showers throughout the afternoon, the third and fourth sessions were delayed on Saturday.

"The one thing that is predictable about Brainerd is that nothing is predictable about Brainerd. It's that one track that we go to in August and it's either going to be 100 degrees or it's going to be crisp cool air.

"Then you get these rain showers that are in and out all day long. It's very odd, the way we get into our zone and go up there, and you have to turn the car right around and go back to the pits because there's a rain delay.

"But it's the same for everybody. Sometimes, it's in the middle of the session sometimes it's at the end of the session.

"We were on an absolutely monster pass third qualifying run and it dropped a cylinder and the blower belt came off and we coasted 170 feet and almost ran our career best ET (elapsed time). The thing really wanted to lay down something close to the national record.

"Then our teammate goes out and gets the national record on Q4 and we missed the tune up a little bit," Beckman said of his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan who reset the national record at 3.822.

"We're No. 4 so we've got lane choice," Beckman said. He will race Cruz Pedregon on Sunday in opening round of eliminations.

"It's probably going to be different conditions tomorrow. It's not going to be warm but it'll be sunnier than it was today. The racetrack will have some more heat in it and I think we have pretty good data to ran in it. I'm really looking forward to racing this."

BRAINERD FUNNY CAR
No. 1 qualifier: Matt Hagan (Don Schumacher Racing) 3.822 sec.-world record, 333.02 mph-track record

JACK BECKMAN, Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 4
SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATIONS
First round: Cruz Pedregon
QUALIFYING
FRIDAY: 3.917 sec., 326.24 mph, (Session 1); 3.901, 295.14 (Session 2)
SATURDAY: 3.859, 308.85 mph, (Session 3); 9.001, 63.29 (Session 4)

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DSR: Beckman, Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge enter this weekend's Mello Yello event in Brainerd going for second victory of the year

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Aug. 17, 2016) - In 2015, Jack Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charge R/T team, funded by Terry Chandler, changed the performance of the NHRA Funny Car.

The performance over the last year has skyrocketed and is due in part to Beckman's crew chief Jimmy Prock and assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham.

This weekend, the team travels to Minnesota for the 35th annual NHRA Nationals at Brainerd. At the event last year, Beckman was the No. 1 qualifier with a stellar pass of 3.901 seconds at 325.69 mph.

A large part of the record breaking performances was due to the laid back style of headers that Beckman started running in Denver last year and many teams have followed its lead.

"Last year Brainerd was the first track on tour to see a Funny Car run in the 3.80s," Beckman said.

"Then last weekend in Seattle, you could have run in the 3.80s and not had lane choice first round. Now that we're cycling back to all the tracks where they've already seen laid back headers with the Funny Car, I thought we'd only see three or four hundredths of a second shaved off the track ET (elapsed time) record but Del (Worsham, Kalitta Motorsports) knocked eight hundredths off Seattle's record that at the time was the quickest round in history."

Last weekend in Seattle, Beckman and the Infinite Hero posted career bests a run in 3.854 seconds - fourth quickest in history - and at an astounding 334.15 mph, the second fastest ever.

Beckman says he is excited about the performance of the Funny Car field and where the sport is headed.

"It's a wonderful show for the fans. Everybody is getting their money's worth. As a driver, I love it because you have to hold on - these things are light in the frontend and hard to drive. As I fan, I just love seeing those big numbers pop up," Beckman said.

"I can't even make any performance predictions. The crew chiefs and Mopar engineering have just blown me away with what they've been able to achieve in the performance game."

After Seattle, NHRA teams had a weekend off. But Beckman and his family did what racers do - they went to a drag race.

"I got to drive a friend's NHRA Top Dragster in the bracket race in Boise (Idaho). I think we made about 17 to 18 runs over the course of the weekend and also did some announcing. It was just a fun getaway.

"It might sound odd that a getaway isn't getting away from a dragstrip, but Sportsman racing is completely different than driving a nitro Funny Car. It's been a good time to unwind.

"I'll hop on an airplane and go home, get everything taken care of there: mow the grass, pack my bags, hop back on the airplane and go to Brainerd. I just can't think of a better way to get my head back in the game than racing. I think now we have the car that we've been wanting.

"The downside is that we've tweaked both of our cars and the DSR chassis shop (fabrication shop) has had to work overtime to get us fresh pipe on this. I don't think that's going to do anything but make us better when we go to Brainerd."

Photo Credit: Auto Imagery

JACK BECKMAN: Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T
Last event: Seattle (Aug. 5, 2016): Qualified No. 4, lost in second round to Matt Hagan
A year ago at Brainerd: Qualified No. 1, lost in semifinals to Tommy Johnson Jr.
Career at Brainerd: Wins 0; Runner-ups 2 (2008, 2010); Poles 3 (2012-13, 2015)
Pts Events Wins Rup Semi Qtr 1st rd Poles DNQ W/L
2016 3rd 16 1 3 2 10 3 4 0 24-15
CAREER 244 23 25 43 69 76 19 7 321-214
Best Time, Speed: 3.854 sec. (2016, Seattle); 334.15 mph (Seattle, 2016)

NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNY CAR STANDINGS
Through 16 of 24 events; Seattle Funny Car finals to be held at Brainerd; DSR DRIVERS IN CAPS
1. RON CAPPS (4 or 5) 1313 or 1333
2. Courtney Force (1) 1124
3. JACK BECKMAN (1) 1088
4. Del Worsham (0 or 1) 1070 or 1090
5. MATT HAGAN (2) 1011
7. Robert Hight (1) 988
6. John Force (2) 970
8. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. (1) 940
9. Tim Wilkerson (2) 862
10. Alexis DeJoria (1) 765

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