Inaugural event winner Beckman targets repeat in Concord going four-wide

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2010 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 4 of 23
Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
ZMax Dragway
Concord, N.C.
March 26-28, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

INAUGURAL EVENT WINNER BECKMAN TARGETS REPEAT IN CONCORD GOING FOUR-WIDE

NORCO, Calif. (March 24, 2010) - Jack Beckman will never lose the status of
being the inaugural NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion
at the zMax Dragway. He did that in 2008. What he'd like to add to his
resume is another victory at this Concord, N.C., facility, racing against
three other competitors at the same time in this weekend's Inaugural NHRA
Four-Wide Nationals.

"We won the inaugural, so let's just win the inaugural four-wide," said the
driver of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger, with a
cautious laugh. "I think this is going to be one of the coolest things ever
for the fans and one of the bigger nightmares for the teams in NHRA.

'We've never had an official drag race where there wasn't one winner and one
loser. Now you have two winners and two losers and then in the final round
you're going to label them first, second, third and fourth. And that's never
happened at an official drag race before. So, I think stats-wise it's going
to be a nightmare, so we'd just as soon keep it simple and win this thing.

"We still aren't 100 percent sure how they're going to handle the Christmas
tree and the starting system. I know they've been soliciting a lot of
opinions from the drivers. We're going to have a drivers' meeting on Friday
when we get there, and I think it's going to be a learning curve for all of
us.

"I tell you this, I bet there's going to be a lot of Funny Car drivers up on
the starting line watching Pro Stock Motorcycles and Pro Stock cars in the
first qualifying session (in advance of the nitro cars) just to get the
tempo of this staging procedure and what the lights are going to look like
for all the lanes.

³Itıs definitely going to be exciting and challenging for everyone involved
- the fans, the drivers and the crew chiefs - without a doubt.²

Beckman defeated Cruz Pedregon in the final round at zMax Dragway in 2008.

Mail Terminal Services will continue to send boxes of post cards of support
and encouragement, along with hand-out cards of DSR drivers, National
Dragster and Drag Racing Action magazines to soldiers overseas. This year
the program expands the opportunity to participate beyond just the NHRA fans
and are including schools and service organizations. If a school or
organization would like to write post cards of encouragement to the U.S.
troops, the request should be sent to mts.mfh@gmail.com. MTS will be pleased
to send post cards for the project and signed handout cards from Funny Car
driver Jack Beckman and a Certificate of Service for the school or
organization.
 
To find out more about Mail Terminal Services go to www.mailterminals.com
<http://www.mailterminals.com/> .

JACK BECKMAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 3 in 2010 Funny Car points after three events: semifinal finish in
season-opening Pomona, Calif., event, a victory in Phoenix, and a
first-round loss in Gainesville
* Inaugural Funny Car winner in 2008 at zMax Dragway, over Cruz Pedregon
* Qualified No. 8 at 2009 zMax event; lost second round to Cruz Pedregon
* Ended 2009 No. 5 in point standings, winning two events in five final
rounds (Atlanta, Norwalk, Ohio)
* Entered 2009 Countdown to 1 in fifth place
* His 2009 round win-loss record is 29-22
* No. 3 in 2008 Funny Car point standings, with three victories - Phoenix,
Reading, Concord - in seven final rounds
* Was bumped out of the 2007 Countdown to Four playoffs standings at the
Richmond, Va., event, after his teammates Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps reached
the semifinal round. Ended the season No. 5 in points
* In his 91 national events in Top Fuel and Funny Car, he has won nine times
in 18 final rounds (all in Funny Car), and has a career round win-loss
record of 104-77
* Is the 2007 U.S. Smokeless Showdown winner ($100,000 bonus event held at
U.S. Nationals)
* Set national elapsed-time record of 4.662 seconds and national speed
record of 333.66 mph (on quarter-mile) at final 2006 event in Pomona,
Calif. The ET record has since been eclipsed. Beckman still holds the speed
record
* As a Funny Car rookie in the last five races of 2006, he qualified No. 1
once (Pomona 2), reached two final rounds (Las Vegas 2 and Pomona 2), won
once (Vegas 2), and set both ends of the national record (Pomona 2)
* Residence: Norco, Calif.
* Hometown: Granada Hills, Calif.
* Date of birth: June 28, 1966
* Married, Jenna (wedding date 11/7/06), son Jason Russell (3/8/07)
* Height/weight: 6'0", 185 lbs.
* Former instructor and current consultant at Frank Hawley's NHRA
Championship Drag Racing School; former Sergeant in U.S. Air Force
(1984-88); cancer survivor; licensed in nine different NHRA categories
* First Start in TF: Las Vegas 1 2005
* First Start in FC: , Dallas,  Texas, 2006
* Competed in only 12 TF events in 2005, ended season 15th in points
* Career-best elapsed time racing to 1000 feet is 4.044 seconds (Richmond
'09)
* Career-best speed racing to 1000 feet is 310.91 mph (Pomona '10)
* Career-best FC (quarter-mile) elapsed time: 4.662 seconds (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best FC (quarter-mile) speed: 333.66 mph (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best TF (quarter-mile) elapsed time: 4.563 seconds (TF, Brainerd
2005)
* Career-best (quarter-mile) TF speed: 324.28 mph (TF, Brainerd 2005)
* In 2003 won Super Comp world championship in Lucas Oil Series and Division
7 Super Comp championship
* Leads 14-time champion John Force in head-to-head round wins: 11-6 (2-1 in
final rounds)

WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, March 26 - FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 1:15 p.m. and 3:45
p.m.
SATURDAY, March 27 - FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 11:45 a.m. and 2:15
p.m.
SUNDAY, March 28 - Pre-race ceremonies, 11 a.m. FULL THROTTLE SERIES
eliminations begin at noon.
 
TELEVISION:  
Saturday, March 27, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying
highlights at 7 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, March 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute
news magazine show, at 10 a.m. (ET)
Sunday, March 28, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two and a half hours of
coverage starting at 5 p.m. (ET).
                   
SATELLITE:    
Friday, March 26, 6 - 6:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 6 / Transponder 21K (12120 MHz,
vertical) (Analog feed)
Saturday, March 27, 6:30 - 7 p.m. (ET), AMC 6 / Transponder 21K (12120 MHz,
vertical)
Sunday, March 28, 6 - 6:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 6 / Transponder 21K (12120 MHz,
vertical)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winnersı
interviews on Sunday.

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