NHRA (CALIFORNIA) - BECKMAN SEES ATLANTA DRAGWAY FOR FIRST TIME IN "NEW" HOT ROD

"Fast" Jack Beckman jumped from 17th to ninth place in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings following his drive to the semifinal round at The Strip at Las Vegas last week. And he credits his "new" Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T "hot rod" tuned by Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler for the comeback, as the series heads to the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway this weekend.

"Everybody's feeling better," said Beckman, who suffered a DNQ and three first-round losses before Las Vegas, following a stellar end to 2006, where he reached two final rounds, won once, qualified No. 1 once and set national records in speed and elapsed time. "I think we've got the hot rod back that we had last year. We had to change the chassis after Phoenix. We think that one had gotten compromised when we blew the tire at pre-season testing and now I think we've got a really good handle on the other chassis and what it wants.

"So, I feel great going into Atlanta. I feel optimistic. We're one spot out of the Countdown top eight and we're two spots out of the Skoal Showdown points. I think now is when we need to peck away. It's important for us to build on this momentum and not get far behind in the Countdown and the Skoal Showdown points."

Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga., is another new venue for the 2003 NHRA Super Comp champion who joined Don Schumacher Racing in the Funny Car class for the final five races of 2006. "It's actually doubly exciting, because I'm doing the whole tour this year, and it's the first time that I'm going to get to go to a lot of the races," he said. "There's a lot of venues that I haven't even seen. There's some places I've been to but I've never raced at. And Atlanta I've never even been to.

"It's the first time I'm going to see it, first time I'll get to race at it, and there's some good history there," added Beckman, an instructor at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School, a cancer survivor, a former Air Force sergeant and a new dad. "It's exciting in that regard, but it's also exciting coming off our performance in Vegas. We didn't win, but we almost won. We lost the semis by four thou (of a second) and I think we would have had the car to beat in the final round."

MAIL TERMINAL SERVICES "MAIL FROM HOME" PROGRAM UPDATE: Mail Terminal Services will be featuring Camp Anaconda this weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in its "Mail from Home" program. Postcards will be available to send to this war-zone camp at the Don Schumacher Racing hospitality area as well as at a kiosk in the U.S. Army "Racing Zone", the U.S. Army Interactive area located in Nitro Alley.

JACK BECKMAN QUICK FACTS: * Ninth in 2007 NHRA Funny Car point standings after five events * Set national elapsed-time record of 4.662 seconds and national speed record of 333.66 mph 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), and set both ends of the national record (Pomona 2) * Residence: North Hills, 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. * 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 * First Start in FC: Reading, Pa., 2006 * Competed in only 12 TF events in 2005, ended season 15th in points * Career-best FC elapsed time: 4.662 seconds (Pomona 2 '06) * Career-best FC speed: 333.66 mph (Pomona 2 '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, April 27 PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 3:30 and 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, April 28 PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, April 29

Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m.

FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m.

TELEVISION: Saturday, April 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights beginning at 6 p.m. (ET).

Sunday April 29, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day at 11 a.m. (ET).

Sunday, April 29, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise final eliminations beginning at 7 p.m. (ET).