Beckman Embarks On Cross-country Tour Beginning In Seattle

NORCO, July 6, 2010: Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car racer Jack Beckman, with wife Jenna and 3-year-old son Jason in tow, will embark on a cross-country tour in their motor coach, beginning with the first race of the Western Swing, the 23rd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals in Washington State. Beckman was the class titlist at this event in 2007.

After a weekend off following a grueling three-race back-to-back stretch, Beckman and family have been packing up this week in preparation for the first leg of their trip, Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., for this weekend's event. They will then continue on to Sonoma, Calif., and Denver to complete the Swing before the season's final seven races, six of which incorporate the Countdown to 1 playoffs.

"Having the July 4 weekend off of gave us a chance to take a breath because we had four in a row and six in seven weeks," said Beckman, third in the point standings and winner of one national event so far in 2010. "We had a chance to come up for air, and now we have three in a row. And we get that two-week break before Brainerd, Minn. Then we have three weeks off until the first race of the Countdown in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend. It's very odd the way the schedule has rolled this year.

"We're packing everything up for the rest of the year. Having the family at all the remaining races will be comfortable for me. I've won Seattle before so there's a comfort level there as well.

"And, the way we've been running with this brand-new chassis since Chicago - we've pretty much gone rounds everywhere - I'm very encouraged. We're running well in both cool or hot weather. You can bring on anything but rain and I think we can run good in it."

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.