BECKMAN CLINGS TO NO. 10 AFTER QUARTERFINAL FINISH IN SONOMA
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/j_beckman_222014.jpg" alt="j_beckman_222014" align="left"borders="0"/>
SONOMA, Calif. (July 27, 2008) - Jack Beckman advanced the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into the quarterfinal round today at the 21st annual NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, and maintained his hold on 10th place in the points rankings.
Beckman extended his round-win record against 14-time Funny Car champion John Force to 5-4 by defeating him in the opening stanza with a 4.23-second elapsed time at 293.98 mph to Force's tire-smoking 6.720/96.43. Beckman also padded his first-round win tally against "the champ" to 3-2.
But his second-round match-up against Gary Densham gave Beckman an early ticket home, as Densham scored the win, despite Beckman's edge at the starting lights, with a 4.157/296.05 to Beckman's losing 4.238/267.22. Margin of victory: 22 feet.
Beckman is now 42 points ahead of 11th-place Bob Tasca III and just 54 markers out of ninth. Only three national events remain before the Countdown to the Championship for the top 10 in points kicks in following the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis.
"What happened was that Gary Densham had a better tune-up in his car again," said Beckman. "That's the second weekend in a row he's got us. We beat him in Denver and he unfortunately returned the favor times two in the next two races.
"I still thought we had him. It started spinning the tires down there and it was too far down track to pedal it, so I just legged it and let it spin and he got around us at about 800 feet (of the 1000-foot race track).
"We gained ground again on 11th, 12th and 13th in points, but I don't want to look back at situations like this and wonder what could have been because we left stuff on the table.
"If we can keep doing this for the next three races we'll be fine, but we need to win one of the next three races and know that we're going to take care of our own fate."
Next up is the 27th annual NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., Aug. 8-10.
UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS, after 15 of 24 events:
1. Tim Wilkerson, 1083
2. Tony Pedregon, 899
3. Robert Hight, 933 (winner today)
4. Ashley Force, 830
5. Cruz Pedregon, 828
6. Gary Densham, 796 (runner-up today)
7. Ron Capps, 757
8. John Force, 740
9. Mike Neff, 686
10. Jack Beckman, 632
11. Bob Tasca III, 590
12. Del Worsham, 588
13. Gary Scelzi, 555
14. Melanie Troxel, 509
15. Jerry Toliver, 501
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/j_beckman_222014.jpg" alt="j_beckman_222014" align="left"borders="0"/>
SONOMA, Calif. (July 27, 2008) - Jack Beckman advanced the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car into the quarterfinal round today at the 21st annual NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, and maintained his hold on 10th place in the points rankings.
Beckman extended his round-win record against 14-time Funny Car champion John Force to 5-4 by defeating him in the opening stanza with a 4.23-second elapsed time at 293.98 mph to Force's tire-smoking 6.720/96.43. Beckman also padded his first-round win tally against "the champ" to 3-2.
But his second-round match-up against Gary Densham gave Beckman an early ticket home, as Densham scored the win, despite Beckman's edge at the starting lights, with a 4.157/296.05 to Beckman's losing 4.238/267.22. Margin of victory: 22 feet.
Beckman is now 42 points ahead of 11th-place Bob Tasca III and just 54 markers out of ninth. Only three national events remain before the Countdown to the Championship for the top 10 in points kicks in following the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis.
"What happened was that Gary Densham had a better tune-up in his car again," said Beckman. "That's the second weekend in a row he's got us. We beat him in Denver and he unfortunately returned the favor times two in the next two races.
"I still thought we had him. It started spinning the tires down there and it was too far down track to pedal it, so I just legged it and let it spin and he got around us at about 800 feet (of the 1000-foot race track).
"We gained ground again on 11th, 12th and 13th in points, but I don't want to look back at situations like this and wonder what could have been because we left stuff on the table.
"If we can keep doing this for the next three races we'll be fine, but we need to win one of the next three races and know that we're going to take care of our own fate."
Next up is the 27th annual NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., Aug. 8-10.
UNOFFICIAL FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS, after 15 of 24 events:
1. Tim Wilkerson, 1083
2. Tony Pedregon, 899
3. Robert Hight, 933 (winner today)
4. Ashley Force, 830
5. Cruz Pedregon, 828
6. Gary Densham, 796 (runner-up today)
7. Ron Capps, 757
8. John Force, 740
9. Mike Neff, 686
10. Jack Beckman, 632
11. Bob Tasca III, 590
12. Del Worsham, 588
13. Gary Scelzi, 555
14. Melanie Troxel, 509
15. Jerry Toliver, 501
