TEAM REPORTS (LAS VEGAS) - Beckman, MTS Dodge at Nellis Air Force Base on Wednesday
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A former Air Force sergeant and the defending ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals event champion, Beckman will be on hand to sign autographs alongside his car from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., while also visiting the wounded and injured airmen that day at the base hospital, something he has done for several years. Also on display will be the Kalitta Racing's Support Our Troops and Families Top Fuel car driven by Hillary Will, and the DHL-sponsored Funny Car of Scott Kalitta.
Kalitta Air works in partnership with DHL to fly the mail that is sorted and staged by Beckman's sponsor Mail Terminal Services to Bahrain for delivery in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
Don Schumacher Racing and MTS, through its partnerships with the U.S. Post Office and DHL Globalmail, honor service personnel of a different war-zone camp in Iraq and Afghanistan at each of the 23 NHRA national events by displaying the camp name on the MTS Funny Car and distributing post cards signed by fans to the troops overseas through its highly-successful "Mail from Home" program.
"I'm excited," said Beckman, who is also an instructor at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in Pomona, Calif. "I love airplanes. I spent four years in the military. What we're doing this year is supporting the military through Mail Terminal Services as our sponsor. I think it's a good chance for the people at the base who may not be able to make it out to the race track to see what NHRA racers and teams are doing for military personnel. We're going to make some noise. I understand Kalitta is going to start up his car there.
"I'm just really excited to get to spend extra time with military people," added Beckman, two-time Funny Car winner this season. "I've got several friends on the base whom I have met during the hospital visits there. I'll probably take a couple of tours in the maintenance shop, which is very similar to what my job was in the Air Force (avionics), so I'll get a chance to relate to some of the soldiers who are probably 20 years younger. Hopefully we can sit down and talk for a while and maybe I can answer some questions and even give them some guidance."
Said Rodger Comstock, President and CEO of Mail Terminal Services, and an NHRA Super Comp racer himself, "Because of Jack's Air Force background and the fact that MTS stages 500,000 pounds of mail a day for the troops during the holidays, we accepted the invitation from DHL Express to do this. Jack usually visits the base hospital and sees the wounded and injured airmen, so this time he will be able to not only have the car on display, but make a visit to the hospital at the same time."
Beckman and the MTS Dodge will also appear at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, Calif., on Nov. 5, following the final NHRA national event of the 2007 season at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Pomona, Calif., Nov. 1-4.
"From our point of view," continued Comstock, "it's like the 'Mail From Home' program. It's a way of showing our appreciation to, in this case the Air Force and the Marine Corps, for all their efforts. We sort and stage the mail that goes to the Air Force and Marine Corps and having the opportunity to actually display the car at their bases is just a strong gesture of appreciation to them."