Beckman makes Winternationals Funny Car field in No. 15

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2008 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 1 of 24
NHRA Winternationals
Pomona Raceway
Pomona, Calif.
Feb. 7-10, 2008

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

BECKMAN MAKES WINTERNATIONALS FUNNY CAR FIELD IN NO. 15

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 9, 2008) - Local favorite "Fast" Jack Beckman drove the
new Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into the
No. 15 qualifying spot for the season-opening NHRA Winternationals.

Although Beckman struggled to get into the field this weekend, seven out of
23 familiar names failed to qualify for the top 16 spots. Beckman posted his
quickest elapsed time in his first attempt on Thursday, a 4.864-second pass
at 295.72 mph. His ensuing passes included an 8.517/95.74, a 4.981/294.50
and finally a 4.977/313.22.

"We struggled and, thank goodness, we unloaded with a good run, because
that's the one we finally wound up sitting on," said Beckman, who holds the
track record and national record of 333.66 mph set at Pomona Raceway in
2006. 

"This new qualifying format of the top 12 cars going into Saturday is going
to make it so confusing to try to figure out if you're in or out. I think
the solution is we just need to haul butt on Friday and not even worry about
getting bumped out," added Beckman, of North Hills, Calif. "It's challenging
going up there for the last session with a good chance of not being
qualified when you run. We're relieved to be in.

"We've got to fix a couple of things with the Valvoline/MTS Dodge. And we've
got a teammate first round. It's going to be a very interesting story coming
out of here, but, burnout to turnout, we don't have any teammates out there.
Our goal is to put the Valvoline/MTS Dodge in the winner's circle."

Beckman faces new DSR teammate Jerry Toliver in first round of eliminations
on Sunday.

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