'08 Phoenix winner Beckman qualifies No. 11 for 2009 event

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Round 2 of 24
NHRA Arizona Nationals
Firebird International Raceway
Chandler, Ariz.
Feb. 20-22, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

2008 PHOENIX WINNER BECKMAN QUALIFIES NO. 11 FOR 2009 EVENT

CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 21, 2009) - Jack Beckman, the 2008 Funny Car champion
at Firebird Raceway, qualified the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge
Funny Car No. 11 for this weekend's NHRA Arizona Nationals. The California
native posted a 4.125-second elapsed time at 301.40 mph in the cooler Friday
evening session, which followed a tire-smoking 8.954/178.16 in the earlier
round that day.

His two final attempts today produced a steady 4.145/301.13 and a similar
4.145/296.57.

"We're right back to where we were last year," said Beckman. "First run I
don't know. It was either too much of everything or not enough race track;
we'll take the blame for it. And then it was right back to (crew chief)
Johnny West's m.o.: right down the race track, good solid runs.

"We weren't the quickest car in each session but we were close to being the
quickest car in each lane for the session. And I think it speaks volumes
that we are able to go down the track three runs in a row like that.

"However, we're not going to have lane choice tomorrow. We have a car that
can haul butt, so we have to aggressively run the race track tomorrow. And I
think we've got the tune-up to do it."

Beckman faces Tony Pedregon in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

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