NHRA
Jack Beckman Norwalk Final Report
By Don Schumacher Racing
Edited: Jun 1, 2018, 1:06 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Jack Beckman Ousted In Quarterfinals Of Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals
Jack Beckman, at the controls of the Valvoline/Aaron’s Dream Machine Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car, lost a tight second-round pedalfest to Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps here today at the fifth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
Beckman, who overcame the lack of lane choice in the opening round of eliminations at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park to advance to the quarterfinals, lost traction early in the contest, but could not quite catch his teammate when Capps spun his tires and lost speed with a violent swerve near the top end.
“We put on a heck of show,” said the Southern California native. “We almost caught Ron; we just needed a bit more race track. But, as is it so often happens in nitro racing, the first guy to lose traction is generally the one who loses the race.
“I must say, though, it was the ‘best’ second-round loss of my life!”
The margin of victory was .051 (factoring in reaction time) as Beckman posted a 4.607-second, 258.47-mile-per-hour pass compared to Capps’s 4.559 at 213.81. The run was in contrast to Beckman’s first round in final eliminations of 4.177 at 287.60 to defeat Bob Tasca III, who had lane choice on the basis of a better qualifying position.
Rain washed out Friday’s two qualifying rounds, leaving the Valvoline/Aaron’s car two shots to make the 16-car field for Sunday’s race. Beckman opened Saturday’s program with a 4.188 at 244.16 run, then bettered his time to 4.167 at 286.74, good enough for the 10th starting spot.
“It was just one of those weekends,” he explained. “You just have to go around and pat every one of the Valvoline/Aaron’s crew members on the back and say ‘good job’ for the work they did under tough conditions.
“We went from ending the first-qualifying round on fire, which damaged our one Valvoline body. We swapped bodies for the second round, made repairs on the original and swapped it back for today’s race. And then on top of these issues, we had to react to changing track and weather conditions during the two days of action.
“Having said that, we move on to the next race, trying to take something out of this one – some data – which can help us win a round or a race later in the season.”
The next race is the July 7-10 Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill., where Beckman will start from second place in the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car standings. He trails leader and race winner Mike Neff, while sitting in front of Robert Hight, Cruz Pedregon and DSR teammate Matt Hagan.
“Accumulating points now for round wins is nice, but at this point in the season, before we get to the Countdown (playoffs) it’s about getting wins,” explained Beckman. “It means something to win a race; it means something to be the best on Sunday.
“After Indy (the U.S. Nationals Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis mark the end of the regular-season) we’ll take late-round finishes to accumulate points for the championship; now, it’s about collecting Wallys for Valvoline and Aaron’s, for the crew and for DSR.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Larry Morgan Norwalk Final Report
Next article Ron Capps Norwalk Final Report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Robert Hight
John Force Racing confirms its return to action
NHRA
NHRA
John Force Racing confirms its return to action
John Force Racing pauses racing activities until 2021
NHRA
NHRA
John Force Racing pauses racing activities until 2021
Hight, Torrence are champions, Kalitta, Beckman take Pomona wins
NHRA
NHRA
Pomona II
Hight, Torrence are champions, Kalitta, Beckman take Pomona wins
Latest news
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
6 h
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
7 h
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 7 h
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe