Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
BRAINERD, MINN. (Aug. 16, 2025) – Jack Beckman ran the table Saturday in final-day qualifying for the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
The 2012 NHRA Funny Car Champion took advantage of a very strong John Force Racing PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car in both rounds of qualifying. In the first, Beckman earned the No. 1 Qualifier spot with a run of 3.879 seconds at 330.63 mph. He then continued the hot streak in the second round to win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge by defeating Matt Hagen with a lap of 3.942 seconds at 324.59 mph.
John Force Racing teammates Brittany Force and Austin Prock both qualified their cars in the No. 2 spot. Force’s first qualifying run Saturday was her best of four, with the Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster running 3.697 seconds and resetting the Brainerd International Raceway speed record at 340.82 mph. On the Funny Car side, the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS of season points leader and reigning series champion Austin Prock lost traction during both runs Saturday but, fortunately, had already established his best run the day before at 3.893 seconds at 331.45 mph.
Jack Beckman, driver of the John Force Racing PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I want to talk about our qualifying effort. I felt like we slipped earlier in the year, but the PEAK Squad is back, and I think that we’re happy with the consistency of our car. I’m over the moon with it but I want to clarify us ‘struggling’: we still were second in the points and able to get No. 1 qualifiers, win a Mission: 2Fast2Tasty Challenge and win a race. It’s just we were even better late last year into early this year. Our tune-up window was massive. We could miss it and still be a top three car for the session.
“It just seemed like when we went back to last year’s car, after I wrecked an Epping, it was telling us it wanted something a little bit different, and it took us a race-and-a-half to figure it out. Seattle was the eye-opener for us, where we said, ‘okay, this thing wants more here.’ We did that and I think we’re getting right back in the middle of having that large tune-up window again.”
Brittany Force, Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster
“We made three out of four solid runs, so we’re very happy with that,” said Force. “That’s consistent. Our best was a 69, and that put us in the No. 2 position going into race day tomorrow. We were on that last run just to see what we could get away with, but we didn’t get it down there … I drove into smoke and shut the car off. So, putting that aside, we’re happy with how qualifying went, looking for a solid race day tomorrow and getting the Monster Energy team back into the winner’s circle.”
Austin Prock, driver of the John Force Racing Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car
“Obviously, those were not the two runs we wanted today for our Cornwell Tools team but we made a great run in that second run yesterday,” said Prock. “We definitely struggled today. Our setup just isn’t jiving with this track condition. So, the way I look at it is we got the tire smoke out of the way today. It’s very rare that this race car smokes the tires two runs in a row but bad data is just as valuable as good data. You have to read it and analyze it and make the adjustments to make it go down the racetrack.
“So, I’m still confident for tomorrow. I don’t have a doubt in my mind. That last session, the sun came out about three pairs in front of us and the track temperature raised almost 10 degrees. That obviously puts a lot of stress on the crew chiefs and who make the adjustments. We already have a game plan for tomorrow, and I think we’ll be just fine. I’ve been driving decent this weekend, and hopefully, we can put four nice rounds together. But it was great to see Beckman win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, and so far, John Force racing has swept the weekend in Funny Car. We won the cash in the guitar last night, (Prock won the American Rebel Light ‘Friday Night Battle for the Rebel Axe’ for being the No. 1 Qualifier on Friday) and Beckman ended up number one so we’ve got some good hot rods and will see what we can do tomorrow.”
Track & TV Schedules
Sunday’s eliminations start time have been moved up by 30 minutes and will now begin at 10 a.m. CT. FOX will air the eliminations show on Sunday, Aug. 17, from 3-6 p.m. ET.
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BRAINERD, MINN. (Aug. 16, 2025) – Jack Beckman ran the table Saturday in final-day qualifying for the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
The 2012 NHRA Funny Car Champion took advantage of a very strong John Force Racing PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car in both rounds of qualifying. In the first, Beckman earned the No. 1 Qualifier spot with a run of 3.879 seconds at 330.63 mph. He then continued the hot streak in the second round to win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge by defeating Matt Hagen with a lap of 3.942 seconds at 324.59 mph.
John Force Racing teammates Brittany Force and Austin Prock both qualified their cars in the No. 2 spot. Force’s first qualifying run Saturday was her best of four, with the Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster running 3.697 seconds and resetting the Brainerd International Raceway speed record at 340.82 mph. On the Funny Car side, the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS of season points leader and reigning series champion Austin Prock lost traction during both runs Saturday but, fortunately, had already established his best run the day before at 3.893 seconds at 331.45 mph.
Jack Beckman, driver of the John Force Racing PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
- This was Beckman’s fourth No. 1 Qualifier of the season, having previously taken the top spot at the season-opening Gatornationals (March 8), then at Route 66 Raceway (May 17) and Virginia Motorsports Park (June 21).
- Saturday’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge victory was Beckman’s third of the 2025 season, having previous triumphed at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip (March 29) and New England Dragway (May 31).
- Beckman will square off in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations again Dave Richards, the No. 16 qualifier with a best run of 5.816 seconds at 118.33 mph.
“I want to talk about our qualifying effort. I felt like we slipped earlier in the year, but the PEAK Squad is back, and I think that we’re happy with the consistency of our car. I’m over the moon with it but I want to clarify us ‘struggling’: we still were second in the points and able to get No. 1 qualifiers, win a Mission: 2Fast2Tasty Challenge and win a race. It’s just we were even better late last year into early this year. Our tune-up window was massive. We could miss it and still be a top three car for the session.
“It just seemed like when we went back to last year’s car, after I wrecked an Epping, it was telling us it wanted something a little bit different, and it took us a race-and-a-half to figure it out. Seattle was the eye-opener for us, where we said, ‘okay, this thing wants more here.’ We did that and I think we’re getting right back in the middle of having that large tune-up window again.”
Brittany Force, Monster Energy Top Fuel Dragster
- Brainerd International Raceway is the fifth different track on which Force has broken the 340-mph barrier in 2025: 341.54 mph at zMax Dragway; 341.42 mph at Epping; 341.85 mph at Pacific Raceways; and 343.18 at Sonoma Raceway. The number of tracks where Force does not hold either the elapsed time or speed record are down to three: Route 66 Raceway, Bristol Dragway and The Texas Motorplex, which she still has a chance to check off the list this year during the Oct. 10-12 Texas Fall Nationals.
- The two-time Top Fuel Champion will face Will Smith, who qualified 13th with a best lap of 4.144 seconds at 229.98 mph, in the first round of eliminations.
“We made three out of four solid runs, so we’re very happy with that,” said Force. “That’s consistent. Our best was a 69, and that put us in the No. 2 position going into race day tomorrow. We were on that last run just to see what we could get away with, but we didn’t get it down there … I drove into smoke and shut the car off. So, putting that aside, we’re happy with how qualifying went, looking for a solid race day tomorrow and getting the Monster Energy team back into the winner’s circle.”
Austin Prock, driver of the John Force Racing Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car
- Prock’s second run Friday of 3.893 seconds at 331.45 mph remained the quickest run of the weekend until Beckman’s first run Saturday.
- In Round 1, Prock will face Jim Campbell, who qualified 15th with a run of 4.052 seconds at 279.50 mph.
“Obviously, those were not the two runs we wanted today for our Cornwell Tools team but we made a great run in that second run yesterday,” said Prock. “We definitely struggled today. Our setup just isn’t jiving with this track condition. So, the way I look at it is we got the tire smoke out of the way today. It’s very rare that this race car smokes the tires two runs in a row but bad data is just as valuable as good data. You have to read it and analyze it and make the adjustments to make it go down the racetrack.
“So, I’m still confident for tomorrow. I don’t have a doubt in my mind. That last session, the sun came out about three pairs in front of us and the track temperature raised almost 10 degrees. That obviously puts a lot of stress on the crew chiefs and who make the adjustments. We already have a game plan for tomorrow, and I think we’ll be just fine. I’ve been driving decent this weekend, and hopefully, we can put four nice rounds together. But it was great to see Beckman win the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, and so far, John Force racing has swept the weekend in Funny Car. We won the cash in the guitar last night, (Prock won the American Rebel Light ‘Friday Night Battle for the Rebel Axe’ for being the No. 1 Qualifier on Friday) and Beckman ended up number one so we’ve got some good hot rods and will see what we can do tomorrow.”
Track & TV Schedules
Sunday’s eliminations start time have been moved up by 30 minutes and will now begin at 10 a.m. CT. FOX will air the eliminations show on Sunday, Aug. 17, from 3-6 p.m. ET.
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