Beckman aced out by teammate Capps in Seattle quarters

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2209 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 14 of 24
NHRA NORTHWEST NATIONALS
Pacific Raceways
Kent, Wash.
July 17-19, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BECKMAN ACED OUT BY TEAMMATE CAPPS IN SEATTLE QUARTERFINALS

KENT, Wash. (July 19, 2009) - Despite struggling this weekend during
qualifying for the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, Jack
Beckman advanced to the quarterfinal round after eliminating one of his Don
Schumacher Racing teammates in the opening stanza.

After defeating Matt Hagan in the first round with a tire-smoking
4.605/241.67 (Hagan also lost traction), No. 14 qualifier Beckman then faced
his other DSR Funny Car teammate and series points leader Ron Capps in the
quarterfinal. Without lane choice, Capps had the advantage and benefited
from it, winning the round with a 4.250/273.33 pass, while Beckman slowed to
a losing 4.359/282.72.

"Frustrating weekend for us," said Beckman, who held on to No. 4 in the
points rankings. "We never really got a handle on the Valvoline/Mail
Terminal Services Dodge. The car was a beast all weekend. After coming back
down from Denver, we made the necessary tune-up changes to back it down to a
sea-level combo and it was just a beast for the first three runs.

"We finally calmed it down enough for the fourth qualifying run, but it was
almost too much, and then we had to try to sneak back up on it first round.
We probably were fortunate to get the win light over our teammate Matt Hagan
in the shelor.com car.

"We gave Ron Capps a good run the second round, but they just had a better
tune-up this weekend than we did.

"We came out of here with another round win," Beckman added, in a positive
tone. "We go to Sonoma in fourth place and we get four more qualifying shots
to dial in our sea-level combo. We want to come out of there with a trophy."

Next up is the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,
Calif., July 24-26.

UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS, after 14 of 24 events:
1. Ron Capps, 1039
2. Ashley Force Hood, 1018
3. Tony Pedregon, 1009 (runner-up today)
4. Jack Beckman, 855
5. Tim Wilkerson, 804 (winner today)
6. Del Worsham, 791
7. Bob Tasca III, 787
8. John Force, 739
9. Mike Neff, 683
10. Matt Hagan, 669
11. Cruz Pedregon, 662
12. Robert Hight, 626

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