Beckman clocks in at No. 7 in U.S. Nationals qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2010 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 18 of 23
Round 1 of six in Countdown to the Championship
56th annual U.S. Nationals
O'Reilly Raceway Park
Clermont, Ind.
Sept. 3-6, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

BECKMAN CLOCKS IN AT NO. 7 IN U.S. NATIONALS QUALIFYING

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 5, 2010) - Jack Beckman, driving the Valvoline/Mail
Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car, claimed the No. 7 spot after the
completion of five rounds of qualifying for the prestigious 56th annual U.S.
Nationals and the first race of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

His quickest pass of 4.076 seconds at 302.96 mph was set in the heat of the
day on Sunday in the fourth session, which was also the quickest lap of that
round, earning Beckman three bonus points. His other passes from Friday to
Sunday were a 4.525/189.10 (No. 13), a 4.136/303.16 (No. 9), a 7.170/90.07
(No. 7), and a 4.951/156.44.

³Itıs so weird at Indy having five qualifying runs, itıs like it never
ends," said Beckman, who entered the Countdown No. 3 in the points.
"Usually, weıd be finishing a race right now and weıre just done qualifying.

"We werenıt perfect, we 'front-halfed' this chassis and right now it looks
like it wants something a little different than it wanted up in Brainerd
(the previous race in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series). The
good news is we made two really good qualifying runs, low ET of the fourth
session, and in this fifth session maybe we found just the other side of our
boundary and maybe it was a little too aggressive. Thatıs not a bad thing if
youıre safe one run and overly aggressive the next. Itıs not that tough to
split the difference for eliminations.

"Weıre going to have a lot hotter race track tomorrow. Weıre going to be a
top-half car with lane choice. Weıre racing another top-10 car and the round
wins mean everything now. Itıs not that they werenıt important for the first
17 races, but theyıre triply important now. We have to win first round every
time we go up there for the next six races. Iıd like to win four rounds
tomorrow and thatıll just start it off the right way.²

Beckman will face Tim Wilkerson in the opening round of Monday's
eliminations.

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