Driving the Valvoline Engine Guarantee Dodge Funny Car in this weekend's NHRA Route 66 Nationals at
Route 66 Raceway, No. 15 qualifier "Fast" Jack Beckman was defeated by No. 2 qualifier Ashley Force
Hood in the opening stanza.
Under cooler conditions following a morning rain shower, Beckman had the edge at the starting
lights with a .086 reaction time to Force Hood's .090 (.000 is perfect), but Force Hood grabbed the
win, tying the duo's record of round wins over the other this season to 2-2, including one national
event win each. His numbers: 4.168/295.50; hers: 4.085/304.39.
Beckman held on to his No. 5 position in the point standings.
"If I had to sum up our weekend, we were one run behind all the time," he said. "That run against
Ashley was a 4.13 if I had staged like I did in qualifying. It was a decent run, but when you go up
against the No. 2 qualified car that is consistently running 4.0s, it wasn't enough.
"Had we been able to get the handle on the track yesterday or Friday, not only would we have had a
more favorable first-round match-up we would have had good quick data to tune off of. We just got a
run behind and never quite caught up.
"It told us something on that run," he added. "We don't know if conditions are going to be similar
in Englishtown (next event). If it's hot, I think we're in good shape, if it's cold and we can use
this data from today, I think that's going to be helpful.
"We have to start qualifying better. That's the name of the game for us."
Next up is the NHRA Supernationals in Englishtown, N.J., June 12-14.
