Jack Beckman was victorious over his teammate Johnny Gray in an all-Mopar Funny Car final-round featuring the pair of Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Dodge Charger R/T pilots, during the 27th Annual NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix on Sunday, Oct. 16. The win moved Beckman into the top spot in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs with two races remaining.
Beckman, the No. 5 qualifier, edged John Force in the opening stanza with a run of 4.295-seconds at 288.77 mph to his opponent’s 4.385/283.31. Beckman advanced to the semifinals, after Robert Hight fouled out on a red light in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Beckman used a pass of 4.299/286.62 to defeat Jeff Arend, to set up the final-round matchup with Gray.
Gray reached the final after opening the weekend as the No. 3 qualifier. He picked up wins over Melanie Troxel in the opening round, teammate Matt Hagan in the quarters and Jim Head in the semis.
In the final-round, Beckman left the line first with a 0.057-second reaction time, with Gray smoking the tires early on. Beckman turned in a pass of 4.354/278.29 en route to his third win of the season in five final-round appearances.
"This was a great weekend because we won the race," said Beckman. "I said before the race we were three rounds back with 12 rounds left and we really needed to win this one to put us in a good position in the Countdown. Obviously, we did our part and our main competitors had their issues, so we did even better than just improving our position."
Beckman leads the Funny Car standings with two races remaining in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs, with fellow DSR driver Hagan second, just five points back and teammate Ron Capps, who did not qualify at Phoenix, seventh.
Next up for the Mopar-powered NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series competitors is the 11th Annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Oct. 27–Oct. 30. For more information on the NHRA, visit NHRA.com.
Beckman, the No. 5 qualifier, edged John Force in the opening stanza with a run of 4.295-seconds at 288.77 mph to his opponent’s 4.385/283.31. Beckman advanced to the semifinals, after Robert Hight fouled out on a red light in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Beckman used a pass of 4.299/286.62 to defeat Jeff Arend, to set up the final-round matchup with Gray.
Gray reached the final after opening the weekend as the No. 3 qualifier. He picked up wins over Melanie Troxel in the opening round, teammate Matt Hagan in the quarters and Jim Head in the semis.
In the final-round, Beckman left the line first with a 0.057-second reaction time, with Gray smoking the tires early on. Beckman turned in a pass of 4.354/278.29 en route to his third win of the season in five final-round appearances.
"This was a great weekend because we won the race," said Beckman. "I said before the race we were three rounds back with 12 rounds left and we really needed to win this one to put us in a good position in the Countdown. Obviously, we did our part and our main competitors had their issues, so we did even better than just improving our position."
Beckman leads the Funny Car standings with two races remaining in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs, with fellow DSR driver Hagan second, just five points back and teammate Ron Capps, who did not qualify at Phoenix, seventh.
Next up for the Mopar-powered NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series competitors is the 11th Annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Oct. 27–Oct. 30. For more information on the NHRA, visit NHRA.com.
