Beckman snags No. 7 in Texas qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 2 of Countdown to 1 Playoffs (six in total)
Round 20 of 24 for season
NHRA FALL NATIONALS
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
Sept. 25-27, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BECKMAN SNAGS NO. 7 IN TEXAS QUALIFYING

ENNIS, Texas (Sept. 26, 2009) - "Fast" Jack Beckman finished up all four
qualifying sessions for the NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex in the
No. 7 spot and will face his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan in
the opening round of Funny Car eliminations on Sunday.

Behind the wheel of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car,
Beckman registered his quickest pass of 4.194 seconds at 296.44 mph in the
second session on Friday, which followed his 4.914/161.79 earlier in the
day. Both were good for No. 7, and he maintained that position throughout
the next two rounds today, in which he clocked a 5.888/122.76 and
4.282/285.77.

"I'm actually pretty pleased with qualifying," said Beckman, who entered
this event sixth in Countdown to 1 playoffs point standings. "We ended up in
the top half, and we're back on a hot race track which last year was our
biggest strength and helped us the most. But, we don't quite have the same
consistency that we had this time last year and that's something we're
trying to get back.

"We compensated after spinning the tires in the first round, made a
conservative but quick-enough-for-top-half run last night, stepped on it a
little bit this morning and overpowered it. By that time we knew how much we
needed to back it down. We then went down the track that last run, which
actually would have been quicker but we dropped a hole (cylinder) out there,
which often happens on hot race tracks when you try to take clutch out of it
and not overpower it.

"We have our teammate Matt Hagan first round tomorrow. He and the FRAM Tough
Guard/shelor.com team are out to win their first race and we're out to win
the championship, so there's no team orders, there's no gimmes, and they
just ran good in that last session. It's going to be a big battle and we
need to win it."

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