Beckman back "home" in Vegas
DON SCHUMACHER RACING 2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES Round 22 of 23 ACDELCO LAS VEGAS NHRA NATIONALS The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Race Date: Oct. 27-29, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; 203-243-2438 cell; jstropus@earthlink.net BECKMAN BACK "HOME" IN VEGAS LAS VEGAS (Oct. 24, 2006) - Jack Beckman, who makes his home in North Hills, Calif., welcomes his return to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals this weekend, as he prepares for his fourth race as the driver of the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car. Beckman, who claimed his first Funny Car round win at the last event in Richmond, Va., is still getting his bearings as a Funny Car driver in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series after a short stint as a pro Top Fuel driver. He replaced Whit Bazemore in the Matco Tools Dodge after 18 season events. "I'm excited," said Beckman, the 2003 NHRA Super Comp champion who made his Top Fuel debut at The Strip in 2005. "I'm a little bit more than excited for a couple of reasons. For one, I'm kind of coming back into my home territory. Vegas is a track that I've raced at quite a bit, so I have a lot of friends and family out here. I'm kind of glad for the first three races with DSR it was far away from home, so I could focus more on the team and the driving task. "And the other reason I'm excited is I think that we made some good strides in Richmond. Not that I didn't think the team was capable of winning a race, much less a round, but for the first couple of races not winning a round really was disappointing to everybody - more so to the Matco Tools team than me. And then to get the first win light at Richmond was rewarding. It makes you hungry for more. "I also think Vegas when it's at its best is a much more forgiving track than any of the three I've already run at. Dallas, Maple Grove (Reading, Pa.) and Richmond are all a little bit iffy. They're more driver tracks because the groove can be a little tougher to keep the cars in. And I don't think we're going to have that big an issue with that in Vegas. So, if the weather is cool, it's going to favor the horsepower cars, and that's what we have. The track should be dynamite. "I really feel like we have a good chance of winning the whole thing here." Beckman will also enjoy some "off-track" time in Vegas. "I'm going to participate in the Speedway Children's Charities poker tournament and I'm going to the military hospital at Nellis Air Force Base and visit some of the soldiers there who got injured," he said. "I did that last year too. I'm a former Air Force sergeant so I have a vested interest in all the military people. There are a lot of neat things that are going to happen this week and hopefully we can culminate it on Sunday in the winner's circle." JACK BECKMAN QUICK FACTS: * Residence: North Hills, Calif. * Hometown: Granada Hills, Calif. * Date of birth: June 28, 1966 * Engaged, Jenna * Height/weight: 6'0", 185 lbs. * Serves as instructor at Frank Hawley's NHRA Championship Drag Racing School and has taught over 6,000 students since 1998; 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 * Competed in only 12 TF events in 2005, ended season 15th in points * Career-best FC elapsed time: 4.756 seconds (Reading '06) * Career-best FC speed: 325.45 mph (Reading '06) * Career-best TF elapsed time: 4.563 seconds (TF, Brainerd 2005) * Career-best 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 WEEKEND SCHEDULE: FRIDAY, Oct. 27 -- PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 2:30 and 5 p.m. SATURDAY, Oct. 28 -- PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT, with rounds at 12:30 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 5 p.m. SUNDAY, Oct. 29 -- Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m. TELEVISION: Saturday, Oct. 28, 30 minutes of Budweiser Shootout coverage at 10 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 Saturday, Oct. 28, 90 minutes of qualifying coverage at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 Sunday, Oct. 29, NHRA 2Day, half-hour preview show at 12:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 Sunday, Oct. 29, three hours of eliminations coverage at 8 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 SATELLITE: Friday, Oct. 27, 10:30-11 p.m. (ET) Galaxy 10R / Transponder 23K (12160 MHz, vertical) Sunday, Oct. 29, 12:30-1 a.m. (ET) Galaxy 10R / Transponder 24K (12184, MHz, horizontal) Sunday, Oct. 29, 11:30 p.m.-Midnight (ET) Galaxy 10R / Transponder 23K (12160 MHz, vertical) ***