Beckman and the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car he drives for Don Schumacher Racing are holding steady in fifth place in the point standings after one victory in two final rounds and 11 round wins so far this year. The Countdown to 1 playoffs (for the top 10 in points) in the final six events of the season are not quite looming yet, as Beckman and the Valvoline/MTS team continue to search for that ideal tune-up.

'We're coming off a test session in Bristol (Tenn.) last week," said Beckman, a cancer survivor and former Air Force sergeant. "We made five runs on Monday after the last race and it wasn't a test session where you say, 'OK, load this car up, we have the best hot rod now.' It was a test session where we got a lot of data and it showed us some things. It doesn't mean that we fixed all of our problems. It means we're headed in the right direction towards getting a consistently quick car.

"We're not far enough into the season that people are assured of having made it into the Countdown or have broken their chances of making it into the Countdown. But we are far enough into the season that if you're going to have a slump it better not last very long if you want to have an opportunity to win the championship at the end of the year.

"We're in a good position. We've got two finals and one win and we're a top-five car right now, but we have to make absolutely certain that we get the data together for hot-weather race tracks so that we don't get into a slump. We need to do what we did last year, which was gain a lot of ground on the top cars through this part of the year and into the later part of the season." Beckman is already ahead of where he was at this stage in 2008. He arrived in Topeka last year ranked 11th in the standings and ended the year third in championship points.

"These next four races (Topeka, Chicago, Englishtown, N.J., and Norwalk, Ohio) are not critical for the championship, but they're crucial for the teams psychologically and points-wise to perform consistently well, and there is nothing better for a team's psyche than to win a race."

Mail Terminal Services continues its popular "Mail From Home" campaign in 2009, supporting the U.S. troops serving in the war zones. In the past two NHRA seasons the campaign has sent over 195,000 post cards overseas signed by fans and supporters at each NHRA national event with messages of support for the troops, along with numerous NHRA National Dragster issues and other automotive magazines. Photos of cars and drivers were also included.

In 2009 the "Mail From Home" program has been challenged to exceed the previous records of cards distributed to hit a 120,000-card record for one season.

JACK BECKMAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 5 in 2009 Funny Car standings, after one victory, one runner-up, four quarterfinal and two first-rounds in eight events
* His 2009 round win-loss record is 11-7
* No. 3 in 2008 Funny Car point standings, with three victories - Phoenix, Reading, Concord - in seven final rounds
* Qualified 12th in Topeka in 2008; lost first round to Melanie Troxel
* Was bumped out of the 2007 Countdown to Four playoffs standings at the Richmond, Va., event, after his teammates Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps reached the semifinal round. Ended the season No. 5 in points
* In his 72 national events in Top Fuel and Funny Car, he has won seven times in 14 final rounds (all in Funny Car), and has a career round win-loss record of 80-60
* Is the 2007 U.S. Smokeless Showdown winner ($100,000 bonus event held at U.S. Nationals)
* Set national elapsed-time record of 4.662 seconds and national speed record of 333.66 mph at final 2006 event in Pomona, Calif. The ET record has since been eclipsed. Beckman still holds the speed record
* As a Funny Car rookie in the last five races of 2006, he qualified No. 1 once (Pomona 2), reached two final rounds (Las Vegas 2 and Pomona 2), won once (Vegas 2), and set both ends of the national record (Pomona 2)
* Residence: North Hills, Calif.
* Hometown: Granada Hills, Calif.
* Date of birth: June 28, 1966
* Married, Jenna (wedding date 11/7/06), son Jason Russell (3/8/07)
* Height/weight: 6'0", 185 lbs.
* Former instructor and current consultant at Frank Hawley's NHRA Championship Drag Racing School; former Sergeant in U.S. Air Force (1984-88); cancer survivor; licensed in nine different NHRA categories
* First Start in TF: Las Vegas 1 2005
* First Start in FC: , Dallas, Texas, 2006
* Competed in only 12 TF events in 2005, ended season 15th in points
* Career-best FC elapsed time: 4.662 seconds (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best FC speed: 333.66 mph (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best TF elapsed time: 4.563 seconds (TF, Brainerd 2005)
* Career-best TF speed: 324.28 mph (TF, Brainerd 2005)
* In 2003 won Super Comp world championship in Lucas Oil Series and Division 7 Super Comp championship
* Leads 14-time champion John Force in head-to-head round wins: 8-5

WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, May 29 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 4 and 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, May 30 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, May 31 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m.

TELEVISION:
Saturday, May 30 ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 8 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, May 31 ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, at 11 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, May 31 ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of eliminations at 4 p.m. (ET).

Courtesy of Judy Stropus