Mopar-Powered Beckman Reaches Fourth Final Round of Season in Texas
Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Jack Beckman reached his fourth final round of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and 16th of his career at the NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex on Sunday, Sept. 27, bowing out to Robert Hight.
The Mopar-powered Beckman dismissed his HEMI-powered teammate Matt Hagan in the first round with a 4.241-second pass at 292.77 mph, then disposed of 14-time world champion John Force in the second round with a 4.219/294.11. He eliminated Jerry Toliver with a 4.546/218.55 run to reach the final against Robert Hight.
Hight grabbed the victory with a 4.218-second run at 296.44 mph, but Beckman was right there with him to the finish, crossing the stripe in 4.271 seconds at 292.58 mph. The margin of victory for Hight was .0821 of a second.
"I have to tell you, losing in the final round stinks," said Beckman, who moved into third in the Countdown to 1 playoffs standing, "but we recognize what we did here and everybody on this Valvoline/MTS Dodge crew has that look in their eye right now."
The third member of the Mopar-fueled Don Schumacher Racing trio, Ron Capps, exited in the first round at Texas and is now sixth in the Countdown standings heading into the next event, the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park, Oct. 2-4. For more information on the NHRA, visit http://www.nhra.com.