Beckman qualifies No. 15 in DSR Funny Car debut

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 19 of 23
O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
Race Date: Sept. 22-24, 2006

DENNIS, Texas (Sept. 23, 2006) - In his first national event driving the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing, "Fast" Jack Beckman qualified No. 15 for the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex, clocking in with a solid 4.895-second pass at 313.58 mph.
Beckman first posted a 7.168/115.91 lap on Friday, then improved his performance by recording a 4.933/307.02. His quickest pass came on Saturday after rain showers passed through, which he then followed up with a 4.912/274.61 to close out qualifying.
"The first time out the track was a little green, so we smoked the tires," he explained. "Then, we went 4.91, 4.89, 4.91, and the reality is the last run Todd (Okuhara, crew chief) had a 4.83 in the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger, but I let it get out of the groove and clicked it early.
"So, the Matco Tools guys have had a quicker car every single session. It's my job to stay on top of it and get it down the track," he noted.
"I think we are in way better shape for tomorrow than it looks on the qualifying sheet. I'm excited going into tomorrow because I think we can win first round. I'm very optimistic going into eliminations.
"We knew after the second session and definitely after the third session that we were in the field," he says of his qualifying for the first time in a Funny Car field. "I think it will set in a little more tomorrow when they do the POWERade introductions. I'm really looking forward to doing well for the 1500 Matco Tools distributors who will be watching my Funny Car debut in eliminations."
Beckman matches up against Tommy Johnson Jr., in the first round of eliminations.