Jack Beckman qualifies 8th for Sunday's Big O Tires NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas

October 29

 In the heat of this afternoon’s final session, Jack Beckman in his Valvoline NextGen/Aaron’s Dream Machine Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car collected the eighth-starting position for Sunday’s 11th-annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals here on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

A 4.105-second pass at 311.34 miles per hour earned the California native a first-round match with ninth-qualifier and reigning NHRA Full Throttle champion John Force when final eliminations commence at 11 a.m. PDT.

“We’re 16-6 (lifetime) against John who is going through a rough stretch (having lost in the first round in the last six races), but just looking at what he did today and you can see why he is the greatest Funny Car driver of all time,” said Beckman, who has beaten Force the last six times they have raced. “He came down to the final qualifying round not in tomorrow’s race, but got it done. As much we respect that team, we know they don’t want to run us tomorrow.”

Beckman starts the race second in the Countdown to the Championship standings, having been passed by Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan who picked up enough qualifying points to erase a five point deficit and take a one-point lead.

“We’re not a Friday/Saturday car, but a stud on Sundays,” he said. “We’ve probably lost a round’s worth of points (20) by not qualifying great throughout the season. We’ve died in some battles, but won some of the wars, which is why we’ve done well in the standings.

“We’re making good calls on Sundays, and that has made the difference.”

The Valvoline/Aaron’s team enters race day focused on a single goal – doing whatever is necessary to win the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle championship.

“We’re on a mission,” said Beckman. “It will take a lot of round wins in the next two races and that’s what we are focusing on.”