Last year's Norwalk champ Beckman goes for two in a
row
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2010 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 13 of 23
Fourth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park
Norwalk, Ohio
June 25-27, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net
LAST YEAR'S NORWALK CHAMP BECKMAN GOES FOR TWO IN A ROW
NORCO, Calif. (June 23, 2010) - Jack Beckman, winner of the 2009 Funny Car
title in Norwalk, Ohio, is targeting his first repeat victory in two
consecutive seasons at this weekend's fourth annual NHRA Nationals at Summit
Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.
The driver of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny car
Don Schumacher Racing won last year's event on his birthday. "Last year my
birthday was on Sunday, this year it is on Monday. So, I intend to get my
trophy a day earlier for my birthday present this year," he said, with a
cautious laugh.
With only five national events remaining before the Countdown to 1 playoffs
begin for the top 10 in points in the final six races of the reason, what
Beckman is serious about is clinching a spot in the top 10. Entering the
Norwalk event, he is fourth in the rankings, 29 markers behind his DSR
teammate Matt Hagan, in third. Second place is 97 points away (Robert
Hight), and John Force holds the points lead by 155.
"Barring (crew chiefs) Rahn Tobler and John Collins deciding to join the
Peace Corps and leaving tomorrow, I think that we're a solid lock for the
Countdown. The way we're running, I think our chances of being a top-three
car for the Countdown are pretty good. And I think if you're in the top six
you've got a really good shot at winning the championship.
"At this point, once you get in the Countdown, I think the goal is pretty
singular. It's the championship and that's going to be achieved by round
wins. But, when you're this much into the season - we just passed the
halfway point - we look like we're going to be right there amongst the top
five cars for the rest of the regular season. We really want race wins now.
"When we lost at Bristol last Sunday in the quarterfinal, we didn't lose
because of a parts malfunction and we didn't lose because of an error, and
that means that we ought to be able to take that data and learn from it.
"Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway was the hottest race track we've been on on all
year long and we're going to have more of the same coming up, but I think in
this sport you have to learn from your mistakes and you have to learn from
your successes.
"I don't think there's any race track that we pull into that we're not
absolutely capable of winning," added Beckman, who has earned one victory so
far this year and raced in his 100th national event in Bristol. "And I think
all the Funny Car competitors realize that. It's just a matter of learning
from every single run and applying that.
"I've never won two events in a row at the same venue. I've won Phoenix
twice, but there was a year in between them. I would love at the end of this
week to say that I won an event back to back. I've won two consecutive
events the same year, in Denver and Seattle in 2007, but I've never won the
same race two years in a row. And I think we can do that."
Beckman commented on John Medlen¹s taking over from Ed "Ace" McCulloch as
crew chief on the NAPA AUTO PARTS car at DSR: "I think it might be a very
intelligent thing to do and it might actually make our car better,² he said.
³Up until now we could bounce ideas off of Ace and he could bounce ideas off
of us at the race track, but he had a car to tune and we had a car to tune.
If he's freed up to devote a third of his weekend to each of the DSR Funny
Cars, that could be a huge deal for all of us."
Mail Terminal Services will continue to send boxes of post cards of support
and encouragement, along with hand-out cards of DSR drivers, National
Dragster and Drag Racing Action magazines to soldiers overseas. This year
the program expands the opportunity to participate beyond just the NHRA fans
and are including schools and service organizations. If a school or
organization would like to write post cards of encouragement to the U.S.
troops, the request should be sent to mts.mfh@gmail.com. MTS will be pleased
to send post cards for the project and signed handout cards from Funny Car
driver Jack Beckman and a Certificate of Service for the school or
organization.
To find out more about Mail Terminal Services go to www.mailterminals.com
<http://www.mailterminals.com/> .
JACK BECKMAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 4 in 2010 Funny Car points after 12 events: including four semifinal
finishes, a victory in Phoenix and a runner-up in St. Louis
* Is the 2009 Norwalk Funny Car champion
* Qualified No. 6 in 2009 Norwalk, beat Bob Tasca
* Ended 2009 No. 5 in point standings, winning two events in five final
rounds (Atlanta; Norwalk, Ohio)
* Entered 2009 Countdown to 1 in fifth place
* His 2009 round win-loss record is 29-22
* No. 3 in 2008 Funny Car point standings, with three victories - Phoenix,
Reading, Concord - in seven final rounds
* Was bumped out of the 2007 Countdown to Four playoffs standings at the
Richmond, Va., event, after his teammates Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps reached
the semifinal round. Ended the season No. 5 in points
* In his 100 national events in Top Fuel and Funny Car, he has won nine
times in 19 final rounds (all in Funny Car), and has a career round win-loss
record of 116-86
* Is the 2007 U.S. Smokeless Showdown winner ($100,000 bonus event held at
U.S. Nationals)
* Set national elapsed-time record of 4.662 seconds and national speed
record of 333.66 mph (on quarter-mile) at final 2006 event in Pomona,
Calif. The ET record has since been eclipsed. Beckman still holds the speed
record
* As a Funny Car rookie in the last five races of 2006, he qualified No. 1
once (Pomona 2), reached two final rounds (Las Vegas 2 and Pomona 2), won
once (Vegas 2), and set both ends of the national record (Pomona 2)
* Residence: Norco, Calif.
* Hometown: Granada Hills, Calif.
* Date of birth: June 28, 1966
* Married, Jenna (wedding date 11/7/06), son Jason Russell (3/8/07)
* Height/weight: 6'0", 185 lbs.
* Former instructor and current consultant at Frank Hawley's NHRA
Championship Drag Racing School; former Sergeant in U.S. Air Force
(1984-88); cancer survivor; licensed in nine different NHRA categories
* First Start in TF: Las Vegas 1 2005
* First Start in FC: , Dallas, Texas, 2006
* Competed in only 12 TF events in 2005, ended season 15th in points
* Career-best elapsed time racing to 1000 feet is 4.040 seconds (Concord 1
'09)
* Career-best speed racing to 1000 feet is 314.61 mph (Chicago '10)
* Career-best FC (quarter-mile) elapsed time: 4.662 seconds (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best FC (quarter-mile) speed: 333.66 mph (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best TF (quarter-mile) elapsed time: 4.563 seconds (TF, Brainerd
2005)
* Career-best (quarter-mile) TF speed: 324.28 mph (TF, Brainerd 2005)
* In 2003 won Super Comp world championship in Lucas Oil Series and Division
7 Super Comp championship
* Leads 14-time champion John Force in head-to-head round wins: 11-6 (2-1 in
final rounds) - DOES NOT INCLUDE CONCORD FOUR-WIDE EVENT
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, June 25 - FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 4:45 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.
SATURDAY, June 26 - FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 12:10 p.m. and 3:30
p.m.
SUNDAY, June 27 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. FULL THROTTLE SERIES
eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Saturday, June 26, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying
highlights at 7 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, June 27, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute
news magazine show, at 4:30 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, June 27, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three hours of coverage
starting at 7 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE:
Friday, June 25, 9:30 - 10 p.m. (ET), AMC 9 / Transponder 5K (Digital SD
feed)
Saturday, June 26, 6:30 - 7 p.m. (ET), AMC 9 / Transponder 5K
Sunday, June 27, 7 - 7:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 9 / Transponder 5K
(11800 MHz, horizontal; Data Rate: 18.295441161 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 13.235 Ms;
FEC: ¾; Bandwidth: 18 Mhz)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners¹
interviews on Sunday.
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