Beckman banks No. 6 in Sonoma qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 15 of 24
FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, Calif.
July 24-26, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BECKMAN BANKS NO. 6 IN SONOMA QUALIFYING

SONOMA, Calif. (July 25, 2009) - Jack Beckman placed the Valvoline/Mail
Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car into the No. 6 position in qualifying for
the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals today and will face Robert Hight in
Sunday's opening round of eliminations.

He registered his quickest lap of 4.133 seconds at 292.33 mph in the ideal
Friday evening conditions. His other laps included a 4/280/281.25 (No. 10)
earlier that day, and a 4.192/290.51 (No. 6) and 4.930/161.94 today.

"I can't wait for tomorrow," said Beckman, two-time titlist this 2009 NHRA
Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season. "The fan in me can't wait to get up
here. I almost wish I had a seat in the grandstands, but I want to be in the
car for four rounds.

"The first-round match-ups are unbelievable," he said of the potentially
points-changing contests on Sunday. "I want to congratulate our Don
Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan in the shelor.com car. It's the first
pole position for (crew chief) Tommy DeLago and those guys. They really
deserve it. And they have their own fate in their hands racing against
another one of the cars on the threshold of the top 10 (Cruz Pedregon, who
is in 11th. Hagan is in 10th).

"We can help them out tremendously by getting past Hight first round
tomorrow (who is 12th in points). So, Man, if things work out good for Team
Schumacher tomorrow, they're going to work out great."

As for the last session run in the heat, "We went out and smoked the tires.
But that was a byproduct of the fact that we got down the track the first
three sessions," he said. "It's so important to get that first one or two
runs down the track. Then you can afford to test things come Saturday once
you know you're solidly in the show.

"We didn't miss the tune-up. We just found out where the threshold his for
tomorrow."

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