CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 6, 2010) - "Fast" Jack Beckman advanced to his sixth semifinal round of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series today at the 56h annual U.S. Nationals, the first of six events in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs. With Robert Hight losing in the opening round, Beckman moved into second in points and held that spot through the rest of the day.
En route to the semis, the driver of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car defeated Tim Wilkerson with a 4.512-second elapsed time at 219.97 mph, then Melanie Troxel with a 4.205/294.43. Without lane choice in his semifinal match-up against Ashley Force Hood, he launched a tick ahead of Force Hood, but she outran him to the finish line, posting a winning 4.156/306.74 to Beckman's losing 4.209/298.93.
“You know, we just lost, so the emotion is pretty high right now," he said. "The wind gets sucked out of your sails when you realize you’re not winning the U.S. Nationals. But, there is a silver lining. We did not have a good car, we did not have a predictable car, and we went to the semifinals. And we're leaving here second in points.
"There’s a lot of good that came out of this. We’re going to go back to the Don Schumacher Racing shop and we’re going to check out the chassis. There’s some things with this new front half that are just not responding like we want them to respond. We think we know how to fix it, and we have five races – actually we’ve got about five days – to get it fixed because we need to roll into Concord, N.C., with a predictable race car.
"I’m frustrated, but I’m really optimistic about the next five races. I cannot wait for Concord."
Next up is the third annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, N.C., Sept. 17-19.
UNOFFICIAL COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS, after one event (18 for the year):
1. John Force, 2206
2. Jack Beckman, 2146
3. Matt Hagan, 2145
4. Ashley Force Hood, 2137
5. Robert Hight, 2125
6. Ron Capps, 2091
7. Bob Tasca III, 2083
8. Tim Wilkerson, 2072
9. Del Worsham, 2043
10. Tony Pedregon, 2031
En route to the semis, the driver of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car defeated Tim Wilkerson with a 4.512-second elapsed time at 219.97 mph, then Melanie Troxel with a 4.205/294.43. Without lane choice in his semifinal match-up against Ashley Force Hood, he launched a tick ahead of Force Hood, but she outran him to the finish line, posting a winning 4.156/306.74 to Beckman's losing 4.209/298.93.
“You know, we just lost, so the emotion is pretty high right now," he said. "The wind gets sucked out of your sails when you realize you’re not winning the U.S. Nationals. But, there is a silver lining. We did not have a good car, we did not have a predictable car, and we went to the semifinals. And we're leaving here second in points.
"There’s a lot of good that came out of this. We’re going to go back to the Don Schumacher Racing shop and we’re going to check out the chassis. There’s some things with this new front half that are just not responding like we want them to respond. We think we know how to fix it, and we have five races – actually we’ve got about five days – to get it fixed because we need to roll into Concord, N.C., with a predictable race car.
"I’m frustrated, but I’m really optimistic about the next five races. I cannot wait for Concord."
Next up is the third annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, N.C., Sept. 17-19.
UNOFFICIAL COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS, after one event (18 for the year):
1. John Force, 2206
2. Jack Beckman, 2146
3. Matt Hagan, 2145
4. Ashley Force Hood, 2137
5. Robert Hight, 2125
6. Ron Capps, 2091
7. Bob Tasca III, 2083
8. Tim Wilkerson, 2072
9. Del Worsham, 2043
10. Tony Pedregon, 2031
