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NHRA
NHRA: Beckman Earns Funny Car Upset At zMax
It's taken five races dating back to last season, but someone has finally broken the stranglehold John Force Racing has had on the NHRA Full Throttle Series. That someone is Jack Beckman.
Jack Beckman was all smiles after upsetting the mighty stable of John Force Racing cars. (Go2Geiger.com)
It's taken five races dating back to last season, but someone has finally broken the stranglehold John Force Racing has had on the NHRA Full Throttle Series. That someone is Jack Beckman.
"I won't even be racing Force and I get a lot of fans say, 'You gotta beat Force,'" Beckman said of random conversations he has in the pits. "And then you've got some drivers who get so hung up on the fact that it's Force in the other lane they aren't as effective when they race him. It's crazy.
"It's an absolute dogfight out there. To get a win is awesome. It's been over a year for us. Our team has the best of everything, but sometimes you get the feeling you will never make a final round again."
Beckman and the Aaron's Dodge Charger defeated three opponents in the final round to win the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway on Sunday. Sunday's other winners were Del Worsham winning his second Top Fuel race in three chances and Greg Anderson winning his first of the season in Pro Stock.
Beckman won his 10th career Funny Car race by besting the trio of Bob Tasca III in the Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford Mustang, Tim Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Mustang, and Jim Head's Head Racing Toyota.
"It was close: First, second, and third were real tight," Beckman said. "You have to perform consistently for three rounds to get the win. We had such a great hot rod coming in here, and we flexed our muscles right away.
"This win wasn't a fluke, this win was this team performing to its potential."
In the final, Beckman crossed the finish line in 4.120 seconds at 309.63 mph. His closest pursuer was Tasca, who finished in 4.137 seconds at 311.05 mph.
Worsham edged his Al-Anabi Racing teammate, Larry Dixon, by mere inches (.0048 seconds) in the Top Fuel final.
"When you are in a dragster you really can see the car next to you," Worsham said. "One thing I've learned in my short Top Fuel career is that the difference between winning and losing is going to be a matter of thousandths of a second.
"I've had three races that have been won by .008 seconds and two by .004 seconds. I'm a pretty lucky guy because I've won all these close races."
The other finalists in Top Fuel were Fram driver Spencer Massey and the Lucas Oil/Speedco rail piloted by Shawn Langdon.
"I was a little nervous," Worsham said. "We sat in the cars for a long time, it got hot, and I started thinking too much. I had three of the best leavers in the class next to me, and here I was just an old Funny Car driver trying to scrape by."
Anderson, who won his fourth Pro Stock championship in 2010, put his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP into the winner's circle for the first time this season by beating Greg Stanfield's Pontiac by the narrowest of margins.
"I've said all weekend that it's probably the toughest race we have as a driver," Anderson said of the four-wide format. "There's just so much going on, especially in a Pro Stock car. There's so much to do on that starting line, and you multiply it with four cars out there.
"I didn't think I'd be up to the challenge to be honest with you. I'm kind of surprised that I survived it and that I didn't screw up."
Anderson ran a 6.556 second pass at 211.39 mph to Stanfield's 6.559 at 211.10 mph. The other two opponents in the Pro Stock final were the Makita Industrial Tools Chevy driven by Dave Connolly and Vincent Nobile's Mountain View Tire Dodge Avenger.
"I lost twice today, and I won the race," Anderson said of coming in second in both of the earlier rounds. "That's the crazy part, too. They did whip me, but I was able to make it to the final, and the car just felt right in the final. I can't hardly explain the whole day. How do you lose twice and still win the race? But that's what happened. That's the craziness of 4-Wide."
Next for the NHRA Full Throttle Series is the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway outside Houston.
"I won't even be racing Force and I get a lot of fans say, 'You gotta beat Force,'" Beckman said of random conversations he has in the pits. "And then you've got some drivers who get so hung up on the fact that it's Force in the other lane they aren't as effective when they race him. It's crazy.
"It's an absolute dogfight out there. To get a win is awesome. It's been over a year for us. Our team has the best of everything, but sometimes you get the feeling you will never make a final round again."
Beckman and the Aaron's Dodge Charger defeated three opponents in the final round to win the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 4-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway on Sunday. Sunday's other winners were Del Worsham winning his second Top Fuel race in three chances and Greg Anderson winning his first of the season in Pro Stock.
Beckman won his 10th career Funny Car race by besting the trio of Bob Tasca III in the Motorcraft Quick Lane Ford Mustang, Tim Wilkerson in the Levi, Ray and Shoup Ford Mustang, and Jim Head's Head Racing Toyota.
"It was close: First, second, and third were real tight," Beckman said. "You have to perform consistently for three rounds to get the win. We had such a great hot rod coming in here, and we flexed our muscles right away.
"This win wasn't a fluke, this win was this team performing to its potential."
In the final, Beckman crossed the finish line in 4.120 seconds at 309.63 mph. His closest pursuer was Tasca, who finished in 4.137 seconds at 311.05 mph.
Worsham edged his Al-Anabi Racing teammate, Larry Dixon, by mere inches (.0048 seconds) in the Top Fuel final.
"When you are in a dragster you really can see the car next to you," Worsham said. "One thing I've learned in my short Top Fuel career is that the difference between winning and losing is going to be a matter of thousandths of a second.
"I've had three races that have been won by .008 seconds and two by .004 seconds. I'm a pretty lucky guy because I've won all these close races."
The other finalists in Top Fuel were Fram driver Spencer Massey and the Lucas Oil/Speedco rail piloted by Shawn Langdon.
"I was a little nervous," Worsham said. "We sat in the cars for a long time, it got hot, and I started thinking too much. I had three of the best leavers in the class next to me, and here I was just an old Funny Car driver trying to scrape by."
Anderson, who won his fourth Pro Stock championship in 2010, put his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP into the winner's circle for the first time this season by beating Greg Stanfield's Pontiac by the narrowest of margins.
"I've said all weekend that it's probably the toughest race we have as a driver," Anderson said of the four-wide format. "There's just so much going on, especially in a Pro Stock car. There's so much to do on that starting line, and you multiply it with four cars out there.
"I didn't think I'd be up to the challenge to be honest with you. I'm kind of surprised that I survived it and that I didn't screw up."
Anderson ran a 6.556 second pass at 211.39 mph to Stanfield's 6.559 at 211.10 mph. The other two opponents in the Pro Stock final were the Makita Industrial Tools Chevy driven by Dave Connolly and Vincent Nobile's Mountain View Tire Dodge Avenger.
"I lost twice today, and I won the race," Anderson said of coming in second in both of the earlier rounds. "That's the crazy part, too. They did whip me, but I was able to make it to the final, and the car just felt right in the final. I can't hardly explain the whole day. How do you lose twice and still win the race? But that's what happened. That's the craziness of 4-Wide."
Next for the NHRA Full Throttle Series is the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway outside Houston.
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