Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
BRADENTON, Fla. (Feb. 5, 2025) – His view of this week’s second annual PRO Superstar Shootout won’t be as expansive nor as spectacular as it was a year ago when he was able to watch everything from within the operations tower at Bradenton Motorsports Park, but that’s just fine with “Fast Jack” Beckman.
The 58-year-old former Funny Car World Champion (2012) actually prefers the somewhat obstructed vantage point from which he will follow this year’s action: the seat of the brand-new PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS in which he will pursue the Mission Foods championship for John Force Racing, a car in which he will make his first laps this week.
“This is going to be thrilling for me for so many reasons,” said the man who, along with Force himself, is considered one of the sport’s greatest ambassadors. “I attended last year’s event as the color commentator with no clue that I would ever be back in a 300 mile-an-hour race car.
“Now, for the first time in five years, I will be running the entire season in pursuit of the NHRA Funny Car Championship for Chevrolet and John Force Racing.”
Summoned to fill in after Force was injured in a 300 mph crash last June at Richmond, Va., Beckman responded with two wins in eight starts, finishing second in the driver standings behind only teammate Austin Prock, a performance that earned him a shot at another championship.
“Our PEAK Chevy is a brand new, never run machine which we will get dialed-in with multiple tests runs,” Beckman said. “Beginning Thursday evening, qualifying (for the eight-car ‘Shootout’) will begin – and it will be cutthroat. For the first time in my career, I will experience three qualifying sessions in one day (Friday) while fans pack the stands to see the Friday show.”
Rest assured that Beckman isn’t here to get a participation trophy. The 37-time NHRA tour winner fully expects his PEAK team to be in the middle of the battle for the Funny Car winner’s purse.
“Make no mistake,” said the former Super Comp World Champion (2003), “Chris (Cunningham), Dan (Hood) and Tim (Fabrisi), along with the entire PEAK Team, have every intention of walking away with the PRO Superstar Shootout title on Saturday, and we will utilize every pre-season warmup run to test and prepare our Chevy for success.”
For 11 years a full-time instructor at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School where his students included three of Force’s four daughters (Ashley, Brittany and Courtney) as well as his wife, Laurie, Beckman once was licensed to compete in 12 different NHRA categories.
After success in Super Comp and after battling cancer to a standoff, he got his first pro ride in one of Dexter Tuttle’s Top Fuel dragsters. That paved the way for his Funny Car debut with Don Schumacher Racing for whom he won 33 times from 2006 through 2020.
Continue reading...
BRADENTON, Fla. (Feb. 5, 2025) – His view of this week’s second annual PRO Superstar Shootout won’t be as expansive nor as spectacular as it was a year ago when he was able to watch everything from within the operations tower at Bradenton Motorsports Park, but that’s just fine with “Fast Jack” Beckman.
The 58-year-old former Funny Car World Champion (2012) actually prefers the somewhat obstructed vantage point from which he will follow this year’s action: the seat of the brand-new PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS in which he will pursue the Mission Foods championship for John Force Racing, a car in which he will make his first laps this week.
“This is going to be thrilling for me for so many reasons,” said the man who, along with Force himself, is considered one of the sport’s greatest ambassadors. “I attended last year’s event as the color commentator with no clue that I would ever be back in a 300 mile-an-hour race car.
“Now, for the first time in five years, I will be running the entire season in pursuit of the NHRA Funny Car Championship for Chevrolet and John Force Racing.”
Summoned to fill in after Force was injured in a 300 mph crash last June at Richmond, Va., Beckman responded with two wins in eight starts, finishing second in the driver standings behind only teammate Austin Prock, a performance that earned him a shot at another championship.
“Our PEAK Chevy is a brand new, never run machine which we will get dialed-in with multiple tests runs,” Beckman said. “Beginning Thursday evening, qualifying (for the eight-car ‘Shootout’) will begin – and it will be cutthroat. For the first time in my career, I will experience three qualifying sessions in one day (Friday) while fans pack the stands to see the Friday show.”
Rest assured that Beckman isn’t here to get a participation trophy. The 37-time NHRA tour winner fully expects his PEAK team to be in the middle of the battle for the Funny Car winner’s purse.
“Make no mistake,” said the former Super Comp World Champion (2003), “Chris (Cunningham), Dan (Hood) and Tim (Fabrisi), along with the entire PEAK Team, have every intention of walking away with the PRO Superstar Shootout title on Saturday, and we will utilize every pre-season warmup run to test and prepare our Chevy for success.”
For 11 years a full-time instructor at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School where his students included three of Force’s four daughters (Ashley, Brittany and Courtney) as well as his wife, Laurie, Beckman once was licensed to compete in 12 different NHRA categories.
After success in Super Comp and after battling cancer to a standoff, he got his first pro ride in one of Dexter Tuttle’s Top Fuel dragsters. That paved the way for his Funny Car debut with Don Schumacher Racing for whom he won 33 times from 2006 through 2020.
Continue reading...