Beckman Tops Provisional Qualifying with Record Run Aboard 2015 Dodge Charger R/T at 61st Annual NHRA U.S. Nationals
· Jack Beckman earns provisional No.1 qualifier with track records in Funny Car qualifying at 61st annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis
· Beckman tops qualifying aboard Infinite Hero Mopar with Funny Car track records for elapsed time at 3.936 elapsed time and speed at 323.74 mph at Lucas Oil Raceway
· Tommy Johnson Jr. puts his #RileyDreamRacer 2015 Dodge Charger R/T third with two qualifying session left
· Defending World Champ Matt Hagan and Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T round out the top-10 in provisional qualifying
· Quartet of DSR Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars will compete in Traxxas Nitro Shootout on Sunday
· Allen Johnson’s Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart provisionally fifth after two qualifying runs at the “Big Go”
Brownsburg, Indiana (September 4, 2015) – After rain washed out Friday evening’s first qualifying session for the 61st annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis, two rounds of provisional qualifying are now in the books, with Mopar’s Jack Beckman closing out the day in memorable fashion after driving his Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) 2015 Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car to the provisional No.1 qualifier position with two more track records in tow.
Beckman was listed No. 6 following the first session, recording a 4.282 second pass at 225.82 miles per hour (mph), but that was simply a prelude to yet another record-setting run by “Fast Jack” and the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T team. In the Saturday evening session the current Funny Car points leader lit up the night and claimed the provisional pole with a 3.936 elapsed time at 323.74 mph — both track records at the prestigious race nicknamed the “Big Go.”
Beckman, who has earned the pole position at the last three races in a similar manner, is aiming to make it four in a row.
“It’s cloud nine,” Beckman said. “You dream of stuff like this. There’s still that little kid in me that daydreams about, ‘Wouldn’t it be neat to be that person on the mountain looking down?’ But the problem in drag racing, and especially Funny Car, is that the view is not the same very long. These things are so temperamental and things change so quick in our sport.
“The things we did to the DSR Funny Cars to make them quicker make them a little tougher to drive,” Beckman added. “They want to hunt around in the middle of the racetrack. They’re right on the edge, they’re super-fast, but they’re twitchy. And, boy, I could feel it on that (run) as it was wanting to move. We went 3.91/325 mph in testing last week in way better conditions, but that long delay brought the track back into that zone where you know you can run in the mid-3s. And we had the data to go on it.
“When I watched Hight go out there and run a 3.97, I thought, “Man, if this thing is doing what (crew chief Jimmy) Prock and (John) Medlen have been doing in the last month and a half, we’re going to run a .94. And we ran a .93. I just think it’s such a great statement to make, especially for our car. We’ve got a lot of military vets here in Indy. When I get back to the pits there are so many people lined up to donate and get the coins that we just ran there. Just knowing that every time we run that good, we raise more money to help the injured vets, it’s such a special feeling.”
Tommy Johnson Jr. had two very consistent runs aboard his #RileyDreamRacer Mopar to put himself third in both Funny Car qualifying sessions with a 4.117/303.23 and a 3.976/318.32 pass. DSR teammate Ron Capps was initially No. 1 after his first session run at 4.064/308.00, but fell to eighth in the second after hazing the tires.
Defending World Champ Matt Hagan took his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T to the 12th spot with his first run at 4.954/152.95. Moving up two spots to No. 10 on his second attempt, Hagan’s HEMI-powered machine posted a 4.153/237.46 mph pass even after it pushed towards the centerline as it neared the finish, forcing the driver to let off the throttle.
While the quartet of DSR Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars have two more sessions on Sunday to prepare for race day or improve their positions on the eliminations ladder, they will also all compete in the Traxxas Funny Car Shootout on Sunday, a specialty event that offers a $100,000 bonus to the winner.
Additional Mopar Funny Car entries making attempts to qualify for Monday’s elimination rounds at the U.S. Nationals include John Hale, who sits 12th with a best pass of 4.196/306.88, and Justin Schriefer, who posted a 5.910/116.48 to occupy the16th place on the provisional qualifying sheets.
In Pro Stock competition, Mopar is looking to hit the bull’s-eye with one of four Dodge Darts in a field of 21 entrants looking to qualifying for the 16 available spots on the eliminations ladder in order to make a run at the coveted U.S. Nationals title.
Top Mopar qualifier Allen Johnson posted the fourth quickest run of the opening session by taking his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart for a 6.621 second elapsed time run at 208.78 mph on a hot track. The Greeneville, Tennessee, native improved on his second pass with a 6.576 sec/209.26 mph run to put him fifth on the timing sheets.
“That run right there will be the run,” said Johnson, who knows a position in the top half of the ladder and lane choice is key at Indy. “Tomorrow morning (conditions) might be okay, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed to pick up a few spots but our run tonight will probably be our best (qualifying) run. Today’s qualifying run in the heat was probably race day conditions. We’ve got the best of both, we’re top five and we’ll go out there and see if we can do better tomorrow.”
While he looks forward to driving his way to a first final round appearance at the famed drag race, Johnson looks back on his 20 years of chasing a win at the “Big Go” and recalls one opportunity that got away.
“The year we had the fastest car and Jeg Coughlin Jr. beat me in the semi-finals,” recalled Johnson of his 2002 battle in which he lost to his opponent by .004 seconds at the stripe after both cars ran identical 6.945 seconds passes. “That was my first water bottle throwing incident that was caught on camera. When I backed up for my burnout he had already lit up both bulbs and I learned a lot that day. He beat me on a holeshot after we had been fastest in nearly every session and that’s probably the maddest I’ve ever been at myself. I’ll never forget that.”
“I’d love to win this thing,” Johnson added. “It would be a feather in our cap. Anytime you can win Indy, or the championship, or the K&N Challenge, all those things everybody wants to do, it’s big. I’d love to do it before the end of my career, so we’ll see.”
Johnson’s teammate this weekend, Aaron Stanfield, posted a 6.678-second run at 207.46 mph on his first pass to sit 13th. On his second attempt, he clicked off quickly after his ride made a move towards the wall and ended up 18th overall with two more sessions left to improve and try to make the field.
The HEMI-powered Mopar of Deric Kramer is tenth with his best run of 6.602/208.84. Meanwhile V. Gaines, who finished runner-up at Indy in 2013, saw a first session qualifying pass at 6.659/207.72 to put his Dodge Dart 11th, then improved his elapsed time to a 6.620/209.01 for the 12th provisional spot with two qualifying sessions left on Sunday. The provisional pole position is held by Greg Anderson with his best run of 6.562/210.70.