Jack Beckman hasn\u2019t mashed the throttle on a race car at Maple Grove Raceway in five long years but, considering the outcome of his last start in the Pep Boys Nationals, one can\u2019t blame the two-time World Champion for feeling pretty good about his chances in this week\u2019s 39th renewal.<\/p>\n
That he won the last time he raced here is significant.\u00a0That the car he beat in that 2019 final is the same PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet Camaro SS he now drives in relief of 16-time Funny Car Champion John Force borders on the surreal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With Force sidelined by the effects of a Traumatic Brain Injury suffered in a June 23 crash in Richmond, Va., Beckman was afforded an opportunity he never could have anticipated and he\u2019s trying his best to make the most of it.<\/p>\n
The former Super Comp World Champ (2003) quickly has adapted to a new environment at John Force Racing, acknowledging that his comfort level has grown each time he\u2019s hit the gas on the aqua blue PEAK Camaro prepared by a crew led by Dan Hood, Chris Cunningham and Tim Fabrisi.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that I\u2019ve \u2018knocked the rust off\u2019 (with a quarterfinal finish at Brainerd, Minn., followed by a trip to the semifinals in the Labor Day U.S. Nationals, a race in which he posted quick time of eliminations), it\u2019s time for the Countdown,\u201d said the 58-year-old veteran.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith back-to-back-to-back events (upcoming), I look forward to getting even more comfortable and climbing further up in the standings,\u201d said the 33-time pro tour winner and 2012 Funny Car World Champion.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re less than four rounds out of first place with a car and a team capable of winning EVERY race.\u00a0I can\u2019t wait to get my first win for John, PEAK, and Chevrolet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before loss of sponsorship sent him back to work in 2021 as an elevator repairman, Beckman built up an extensive resume at Maple Grove where he won three times in 12 starts (2008, 2015, 2019) and compiled an 18-10 record.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The only Funny Car driver to have won the Pep Boys Nationals more often?\u00a0That would be Force, who has hoisted the trophy seven times and was runner-up on nine other occasions.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published on September 12, 2024. <\/p>\n
The post Jack Beckman Gaining Confidence at Wheel of PEAK Chevy<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jack Beckman hasn\u2019t mashed the throttle on a race car at Maple Grove Raceway in five long years but, considering the outcome of his last start in the Pep Boys Nationals, one can\u2019t blame the two-time World Champion for feeling pretty good about his chances in this week\u2019s 39th renewal. That he won the last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}