Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 24, 2025) – World Wide Technology Raceway already held a special place in Jack Beckman’s career but his victory in last year’s NHRA Mission Foods Midwest Nationals was of a significance that even he could have imagined.
It was there, on Sept. 29, 2024, that Beckman, driving in his eighth race for the injured John Force after almost four years out of the sport, defeated Ron Capps in the final round to return John Force Racing’s PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Funny Car to the winner’s circle.
The 2012 NHRA Funny Car Champion returns to World Wide Technology Raceway fourth in the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Funny Car standings. He is just four points behind Capps in third, 19 to Matt Hagan in second, and 98 to John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock.
Trailing the PEAK SQUAD in the Top 10 are Paul Lee (-29 points), Cruz Pedregon (-54 points), Daniel Wilkerson (-48 points), Spencer Hyde (-68 points), JR Todd (-84 points), and Alexis Dejoria (-93 points).
Notes
Quotes
You’re the defending Midwest Nationals Funny Car Champions so what are your memories of winning that first race for John Force Racing?
“Well, after almost 4 years out of the sport obviously I never thought I’d hold another trophy up in the winner’s circle, so that was quite literally beyond my wildest expectations. Not only was I back in the sport, but I was back in the winner’s circle. It was as big a win as I’ve ever had.”
With two other wins and two runner-up finishes at World Wide Technology Raceway, what is it there that brings out your very best?
“You would think after you race for 10 … 15 … 20 years things would probably just kind of equalize out. Then you have some tracks like Charlotte, Pomona, Vegas, and others that used to do two races where you had extra shots of winning but there’s not any real specific reason for my good fortune at St. Louis. St. Louis was on the tour and then off the tour for years, came back on tour and they labeled that race as the inaugural race and I won my first time going to St. Louis. But no, I don’t think there’s any special magic in that place. You know my great grandma and my mom’s mom grew up in St. Louis, but I don’t think they were sprinkling any pixie dust out there for me.
Does the consistency of your last three runs at zMax Dragway (3.938, 3.939, 3.939) give you confidence going into this week’s event?
Well, I have painted the PEAK SQUAD into a corner. I just flat missed the tree in the second round at Charlotte, and we had the quickest car in our quad there and only had to finish in the top two to advance into the final round. As a driver, your job is not to mess up the crew’s job. On occasion, the driver can save the run when it shakes or spins or does something unexpected. What you never want to do is have the best car and my lack of execution cost us the win. So, I don’t think that I’m extra motivated to go to St. Louis. I think I’m fully aware of that It’s not quite due or die right now, but the way Austin’s car is running, unless we want to run for second place. It’s pretty much do or die for us.”
Your last three runs at Charlotte were within one-thousandth of a second of each other so does that give you confidence, especially knowing the PEAK Chevy is a new car?
“I would say so. we only had nine runs on a brand-new car coming into Charlotte and then we put another six on it there, so we only have 15 runs on it. You’d love to think that every part that you replace on the car, whether it’s a clutch lever or the entire chassis, that the new one performs exactly as the old one did. But that’s almost never the case just because one chassis had 100 runs on it and the other one has zero. I still think that we’re learning some of the subtilties of this new chassis. Even when we stumbled on Friday, on our second run we had the best numbers up to 330 feet of any of the Funny Cars there. We just pushed too hard. Once we backed it down for the heat on Saturday and then going into Sunday, I think we should be as good as any other car out there, including my teammate.”
World Wide Technology Raceway Race Statistics
Quickest time: 3.856 seconds, Sept. 29, 2024
Fastest speed: 331.77 mph, Sept. 29, 2017
Number starts: 12
Times No. 1 qualifier: 1
Final rounds: 5
Victories: 3
Won-Lost Record: 22-9
Track records – 3.830 seconds by Robert Hight, Sept. 30, 2017; 338.60 mph by Robert Hight, Sept. 30, 2017
Track & TV Schedules
NHRA Mission Food Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 5 and 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Sept. 26, and the final two rounds on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 12:15 and 3 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on Sunday, Sept. 28.
Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday and then eliminations coverage starting at 3 p.m. ET.
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BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 24, 2025) – World Wide Technology Raceway already held a special place in Jack Beckman’s career but his victory in last year’s NHRA Mission Foods Midwest Nationals was of a significance that even he could have imagined.
It was there, on Sept. 29, 2024, that Beckman, driving in his eighth race for the injured John Force after almost four years out of the sport, defeated Ron Capps in the final round to return John Force Racing’s PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Funny Car to the winner’s circle.
The 2012 NHRA Funny Car Champion returns to World Wide Technology Raceway fourth in the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Funny Car standings. He is just four points behind Capps in third, 19 to Matt Hagan in second, and 98 to John Force Racing teammate Austin Prock.
Trailing the PEAK SQUAD in the Top 10 are Paul Lee (-29 points), Cruz Pedregon (-54 points), Daniel Wilkerson (-48 points), Spencer Hyde (-68 points), JR Todd (-84 points), and Alexis Dejoria (-93 points).
Notes
- Last year’s World Wide Technology victory was Beckman’s first for John Force Racing, but he won twice there for Don Schumacher Racing (2012 and 2016) and earned runner-up finishes in 2010, to Robert Hight, and in 2013 to Force.
- In his three WWTR victories, Beckman qualified first (2012), second (2016) and fourth (2024).
- In 2025, Beckman and his PEAK SQUAD have earned two victories (Pomona and Chicago) and two runner-up finishes (Richmond and Indianapolis).
Quotes
You’re the defending Midwest Nationals Funny Car Champions so what are your memories of winning that first race for John Force Racing?
“Well, after almost 4 years out of the sport obviously I never thought I’d hold another trophy up in the winner’s circle, so that was quite literally beyond my wildest expectations. Not only was I back in the sport, but I was back in the winner’s circle. It was as big a win as I’ve ever had.”
With two other wins and two runner-up finishes at World Wide Technology Raceway, what is it there that brings out your very best?
“You would think after you race for 10 … 15 … 20 years things would probably just kind of equalize out. Then you have some tracks like Charlotte, Pomona, Vegas, and others that used to do two races where you had extra shots of winning but there’s not any real specific reason for my good fortune at St. Louis. St. Louis was on the tour and then off the tour for years, came back on tour and they labeled that race as the inaugural race and I won my first time going to St. Louis. But no, I don’t think there’s any special magic in that place. You know my great grandma and my mom’s mom grew up in St. Louis, but I don’t think they were sprinkling any pixie dust out there for me.
Does the consistency of your last three runs at zMax Dragway (3.938, 3.939, 3.939) give you confidence going into this week’s event?
Well, I have painted the PEAK SQUAD into a corner. I just flat missed the tree in the second round at Charlotte, and we had the quickest car in our quad there and only had to finish in the top two to advance into the final round. As a driver, your job is not to mess up the crew’s job. On occasion, the driver can save the run when it shakes or spins or does something unexpected. What you never want to do is have the best car and my lack of execution cost us the win. So, I don’t think that I’m extra motivated to go to St. Louis. I think I’m fully aware of that It’s not quite due or die right now, but the way Austin’s car is running, unless we want to run for second place. It’s pretty much do or die for us.”
Your last three runs at Charlotte were within one-thousandth of a second of each other so does that give you confidence, especially knowing the PEAK Chevy is a new car?
“I would say so. we only had nine runs on a brand-new car coming into Charlotte and then we put another six on it there, so we only have 15 runs on it. You’d love to think that every part that you replace on the car, whether it’s a clutch lever or the entire chassis, that the new one performs exactly as the old one did. But that’s almost never the case just because one chassis had 100 runs on it and the other one has zero. I still think that we’re learning some of the subtilties of this new chassis. Even when we stumbled on Friday, on our second run we had the best numbers up to 330 feet of any of the Funny Cars there. We just pushed too hard. Once we backed it down for the heat on Saturday and then going into Sunday, I think we should be as good as any other car out there, including my teammate.”
World Wide Technology Raceway Race Statistics
| Year | Race Result | Qualified | Round Record |
| 2007 | DNQ | DNQ | 0-0 |
| 2008 | DNQ | DNQ | 0-0 |
| 2009 | 1st round | 9th | 0-1 |
| 2010 | Runner-up | 3rd | 3-2 |
| 2011 | Did Not Compete | Did Not Compete | Did Not Compete |
| 2012 | Winner | 1st | 7-2 |
| 2013 | Runner-up | 8th | 10-3 |
| 2014 | 1st round | 9th | 10-4 |
| 2015 | 2nd round | 3rd | 11-5 |
| 2016 | Winner | 2nd | 15-5 |
| 2017 | 2nd round | 6th | 16-6 |
| 2018 | 1st round | 8th | 16-7 |
| 2019 | 1st round | 9th | 16-8 |
| 2020 | Semi-finals | 5th | 18-9 |
| 2021 | Did Not Compete | Did Not Compete | Did Not Compete |
| 2022 | Did Not Compete | Did Not Compete | Did Not Compete |
| 2023 | Did Not Compete | Did Not Compete | Did Not Compete |
| 2024 | Winner | 4th | 22-9 |
Quickest time: 3.856 seconds, Sept. 29, 2024
Fastest speed: 331.77 mph, Sept. 29, 2017
Number starts: 12
Times No. 1 qualifier: 1
Final rounds: 5
Victories: 3
Won-Lost Record: 22-9
Track records – 3.830 seconds by Robert Hight, Sept. 30, 2017; 338.60 mph by Robert Hight, Sept. 30, 2017
Track & TV Schedules
NHRA Mission Food Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 5 and 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Sept. 26, and the final two rounds on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 12:15 and 3 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on Sunday, Sept. 28.
Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday and then eliminations coverage starting at 3 p.m. ET.
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