{"id":42630,"date":"2020-09-07T09:24:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T13:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=42630"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:22:18","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:22:18","slug":"beckman-drives-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-funny-car-to-coveted-nhra-u-s-nationals-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2020\/09\/beckman-drives-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-funny-car-to-coveted-nhra-u-s-nationals-win.html","title":{"rendered":"Beckman Drives Dodge Charger SRT<sup>&reg;<\/sup> Hellcat Funny Car to Coveted NHRA U.S. Nationals Win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-responsive-item\" title=\"Beckman Drives Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car to Coveted NHRA U.S. Nationals Win\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/455484845?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\"><\/span><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>From his seventh-seed position, Jack Beckman drove his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat through the eliminations ladder and to a coveted win at arguably the most famous and prestigious drag race in the world, 66th\u00a0annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beckman and his crew\u2019s consistent efforts this season and throughout the weekend afforded them a chance to advance to a fourth final round appearance in six events thus far this year. The veteran Funny Car driver began his charge through the field with a solid 3.909-second elapsed time run to defeat Cruz Pedregon. He added a clean pass for a quarterfinal win over DSR teammate Ron Capps before deposing Tim Wilkerson with a holeshot win in the semifinals. For the final elimination round, Beckman staged his Mopar<sub>\u00ae<\/sub> machine next to J.R. Todd then took it straight down the track for a 3.908-second winning effort to beat his opponent\u2019s 3.960-second pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-16324at6p1qcmc3upf4o8c9ictpou1r.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-42644\" srcset=\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-16324at6p1qcmc3upf4o8c9ictpou1r.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-16324at6p1qcmc3upf4o8c9ictpou1r-576x384.jpg 576w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-16324at6p1qcmc3upf4o8c9ictpou1r-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-16324at6p1qcmc3upf4o8c9ictpou1r-992x662.jpg 992w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption>2020 DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The win propelled Beckman back atop the NHRA Funny Car world\nchampionship leaderboard with just five races left on the 2020 calendar. With\nhis second victory of the year, Beckman also captured a second national event\ntitle at the historic race affectionately known to drag racing fans as \u201cthe Big\nGo\u201d to accompany the one he earned in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is my second U.S. Nationals Funny Car title and I don&#8217;t know\nif we can ever top your first win but today we showed that we can kill it with\nconsistency, we can have issues and rally back,\u201d said the 2012 Funny Car world\nchampion. \u201cThe crew chiefs made great decisions and the crew guys found a\ncouple anomalies in the pants and jumped right on it. Nobody panicked and we\nmade this car go down the track all four times today. We learned this trophy.\nWe are back in the Funny Car points lead. That&#8217;s for final rounds this year. It\nhas been a crazy 2020, but I&#8217;m thinking we can get a couple more of these with\nour Dodge Charger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-14960b4h5qthqamfd53rk080oep36cj.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-42643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-14960b4h5qthqamfd53rk080oep36cj.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-14960b4h5qthqamfd53rk080oep36cj-576x384.jpg 576w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-14960b4h5qthqamfd53rk080oep36cj-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2035-14960b4h5qthqamfd53rk080oep36cj-992x662.jpg 992w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption>2020 DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Beckman was one of three DSR drivers to contend for wins in final round appearances in three different classes on Sunday. The second driver in DSR\u2019s stable with the chance to add more U.S. Nationals hardware to the team\u2019s trophy case was Top Fuel pilot Leah Pruett who drove her fierce new-look Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye dragster from the No. 6 spot to her first final elimination round appearance at the famed event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To get there, Pruett powered her way past Terry McMillen in the\nopening round to meet DSR teammate Tony Schumacher in the quarterfinals. Lady\nluck played a part in providing her an opportunity to advance as Schumacher\ndropped a cylinder early in his run while Pruett\u2019s dragster smoked the tires,\nrequiring some pedaling to get back on track and across the finish line to move\non to the semifinals against Steve Torrence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pruett\u2019s 0.053-second reaction time against her opponent\u2019s 0.093,\ngave her the edge she needed to turn on the win lights with a 3.743 sec \/322.34\nmph pass to Torrence\u2019s quickest run of the event at 3.724\/325.14 capturing the\nholeshot win with a margin of victory of 0.0215-seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pruett then faced Shawn Langdon for the first time in a final\nround match-up, but saw her opportunity to battle for the win go up in tire\nsmoke at halftrack, settling for a runner-up finish. As a consolation prize, her\nefforts this weekend moved her&nbsp;into second place in Top Fuel Championship\nstandings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis Big Go did not disappoint on the intensity meter from\nneeding to make a good lap in Q4 just to make the show to throwing down a .70 in\nthe first round against Terry (McMillen) who brought a .72. Those are the\nconditions we love to flourish in,\u201d said Pruett. \u201cAfter the second round they\nmoved up the session 35 minutes and in one of the most impressive moments was\nthe preparation for the semifinal round. To see this Dodge SRT team stay cool\nand calm and deliver what we did in the semis makes me very proud. We fed off\nof that and tried to duplicate that for the final and had clutch wear issues.\nLeaving here second in points is incredible. The team faced a lot of challenges\ntoday mechanically, mentally and time-wise and we are going to take this as a\nbuilding block for Gainesville.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nthird DSR contender for a win was in the Factory\nStock Showdown (FSS) category, as No. 2 qualifier Mark Pawuk strung together a\nsolid series of sub-eight second passes aboard his Empaco Equipment Mopar Drag\nPak through each round of eliminations including his final round battle against\nAaron Stanfield. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Pawuk had the starting line advantage and posted a 7.979\nsec.\/172.83 mph pass, it wasn\u2019t enough to beat the winning 7.918\/172.98 run by\nStanfield. This was Pawuk\u2019s third FSS runner-up performance at the U.S.\nNationals with a previous one coming against his Mopar Drag Pak teammate Pruett\nwho went home with that 2018 FSS national title win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pruett, for her part, was seeded sixth for this year\u2019s opening\nround of FSS eliminations but after winning that first outing, she was on the\nlosing end of the sprint to the finish against Jesse Alexandra in her second\nround match-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rest of the DSR Funny Car lineup found themselves looking forward to the next stop on the NHRA circuit after seeing their day prematurely shortened. Matt Hagan moved past Paul Lee, to take a holeshot victory over Bob Tasca III by posting a 3.939 E.T. behind the wheel of his red-hot Hellcat Redeye versus his adversary\u2019s 3.940. His side-by-side semifinal battle with J.R. Todd, ended with a loss of grip late in his run to allow Todd to move on. The result however, moved Hagan into second place in the points behind his DSR teammate and event winner, Beckman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still riding the momentum of his win at the Dodge NHRA Indy\nNationals at the previous event, Ron Capps drove his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat\nto a provisional No.1 qualifier run on Friday and into race day as the No. 2\nseed. With a record of 38-4 in an opening round when qualified second, Capps\ncame out firing on all cylinders and advanced easily with a 3.924 E.T. at\n328.06 mph to defeat Jim Campbell and move on to face Beckman in the quarterfinals.\nFollowing identical reaction times of 0.067, Capps took the lead early, but\nlost traction at the 300-foot mark and eventually ceded the run to his DSR\nteammate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Funny Car points leader heading into race day and No.1 qualifier for a third time this season, Tommy Johnson Jr., took the early lead with the Riley Kids Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the first round against No. 16 qualifier Dale Creasy, but when his DSR machine suddenly quit on the final approach to the finish, the result was an upset. Johnson crossed the stripe to register a 0.065-sec. reaction time, and 4.011 sec.\/276.58 mph just behind Creasy\u2019s 0.062 sec reaction \/ 4.009 sec.\/315.64 mph wining effort and now sits third in the points standings behind his DSR teammates, Beckman and Hagan. Five national events now remaining on the revamped 2020 NHRA schedule with the next stop set for Gainesville, Fla., from Sept. 25-27 for the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From his seventh-seed position, Jack Beckman drove his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT\u00ae Hellcat through the eliminations ladder and to a coveted win at arguably the most famous and prestigious drag race in the world, 66th\u00a0annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Beckman and his crew\u2019s consistent efforts this season and throughout the weekend afforded them a chance to advance to a fourth final round appearance in six events thus far this year. The veteran Funny Car driver began his charge through the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":42635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[575],"tags":[528,849,615],"class_list":["post-42630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-drag-racing","tag-dsr","tag-nhra"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/beckmancovetedwinfeature.png","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42630"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42630"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59061,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42630\/revisions\/59061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}