Charlotte: Jack Beckman Saturday report

BECKMAN BAGS NO. 3 IN CONCORD FOUR-WIDE QUALIFYING

CONCORD, N.C. (March 27, 2010) - "Fast" Jack Beckman bagged the No. 3 spot in qualifying for the Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway after recording a career-best 4.040-second run at 310.48 mph in the second session on Friday night.

His final two passes in the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car today produced a 7.757/85.56 and a 4.080/313.66 (career-best speed). His initial lap on Friday was a 4.103/304.25.

"Two solid runs to start," he said. "We missed it in the third session, and I've never seen so many good crew chiefs miss it. Only two out of 16 cars even went down the track.

"Then to come back in the last session, where we were second low of the session with my best 1000-foot speed by almost three miles an hour, was fantastic.

"The nice thing right now is it looks like what we're asking the car to do it's doing. And, remember, we still have fewer than 35 runs as a team with this car and this tune-up. And Ed McCulloch, crew chief on the NAPA car, has given us some of his data. We tried to implement that into our tune-up philosophy and it looks like all that's working great right now.

"We'll have first lane choice tomorrow, which may or may not be an issue. We're poised to win this," added Beckman, the winner of the inaugural event here in 2008. "We just have to go three rounds tomorrow. It's going to be a perfect day for us."

Beckman faces Bob Tasca III, John Force and Tony Pedregon in the opening round of four-wide eliminations on Sunday.

-source: dsr