Beckman runs strong in Reading, loses to Force on a holeshot

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 20 of 23
TOYO TIRES NHRA NATIONALS
Maple Grove Raceway
Mohnton, Pa.
Race Date: Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

BECKMAN RUNS STRONG IN READING, LOSES ON HOLESHOT TO FORCE

MOHNTON, Pa. (Oct. 1, 2006) - Jack Beckman just missed earning his first
Funny Car round win in the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny
Car and helping his Don Schumacher Racing teammate (and points leader) Ron
Capps in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship
chase today at the rescheduled Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals. The former Top
fuel racer turned Funny Car driver suffered a holeshot loss to John Force in
the opening round of eliminations at Maple Grove Raceway in a close contest
against the 13-time champion.

No. 8 qualifier Beckman logged the quicker elapsed time of 4.783 seconds at
315.05 mph to No. 9 qualifier Force's slower but winning 4.793/313.44 in a
match-up he lost by a mere 10 feet. Reaction times made the difference, as
Beckman left the starting line at .109 of a second (.000 is perfect) to
Force's .078, leaving .0222 (of a second) as the margin of victory.

"You talk about opportunity. It was an opportunity to help Ron, and with him
losing first round, John had the chance to take back the lead " said
Beckman. Force did take over the lead by winning the second round over Tommy
Johnson Jr. after Capps lost the first round to Phil Burkart Jr.

"It was also an opportunity for this Matco Tools Iron Eagle team and the
1500 Matco Tools distributors who root for us each weekend. No matter how
John Force is running, when you beat him it's good because he's the
benchmark for this Funny Car class. We were so damned close to beating him.

"The bottom line is I lost on a holeshot. I had a quicker ET, and John beat
me," said the 2003 NHRA Super Comp champion.

"To be that close to beating John Force, and not get the win light, stings a
little bit. I have to be honest. I didn't go up there thinking, Gosh, if we
could give John a good race we would really feel good about it."

On the close defeat: "You know, in a Funny Car, you can't see the
car in the other lane. In a Top Fuel car you can see the nose and know
they are probably 15 feet ahead of you. In a Funny Car, if you see
them, they are probably 70 feet ahead of you. I never saw him and kept
thinking, We're getting there, we're getting there. But then the win
light never came on and I turned the corner and saw my Matco Tools crew
guys with long faces, so that's when it sunk in that we didn't win."

Next up for Beckman is the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at
Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va., Oct. 6-8.

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