[coverattach=1]COMMERCE, Ga. (April 18, 2009) - "Fast" Jack Beckman raced the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car into the No. 7 position in qualifying for the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.
He recorded his quickest lap of 4.120 seconds at 304.05 mph in Friday's second session. His other runs produced a 4.512/192.93 (No. 10), a 7.238/81.44 (No. 5) and finally a 4.204/297.94 (No. 7).
"Top half, that's great," said Beckman. "We went into the final session fifth and left seventh, and that's the byproduct of once we were in solid last night we were able to test a couple of things today that will make us better eventually. It's one of these one-step-back, two-steps-forward situations.
"So, our reward for qualifying in the top half is we have Robert Hight again first round. That's not much of a reward for being a top-half car. It's going to be exciting. We hope it stays dry tomorrow, but there's all likelihood that the weather is going to be entirely different on race day.” This is Beckman’s third match-up against Hight this year. They’re tied 1-1 going into Sunday’s eliminations.
"It's going to be an interesting race. I think if we can get this deal in before it gets wet out here, you're going to see some amazingly fast times and a lot of side-by-side tire smokers, and that's always exciting for the fans and the drivers."
He recorded his quickest lap of 4.120 seconds at 304.05 mph in Friday's second session. His other runs produced a 4.512/192.93 (No. 10), a 7.238/81.44 (No. 5) and finally a 4.204/297.94 (No. 7).
"Top half, that's great," said Beckman. "We went into the final session fifth and left seventh, and that's the byproduct of once we were in solid last night we were able to test a couple of things today that will make us better eventually. It's one of these one-step-back, two-steps-forward situations.
"So, our reward for qualifying in the top half is we have Robert Hight again first round. That's not much of a reward for being a top-half car. It's going to be exciting. We hope it stays dry tomorrow, but there's all likelihood that the weather is going to be entirely different on race day.” This is Beckman’s third match-up against Hight this year. They’re tied 1-1 going into Sunday’s eliminations.
"It's going to be an interesting race. I think if we can get this deal in before it gets wet out here, you're going to see some amazingly fast times and a lot of side-by-side tire smokers, and that's always exciting for the fans and the drivers."
