FUNNY CAR

Jack Beckman finished second for the NHRA Funny Car world championship last season, and when his entire crew moved over to the NAPA F/C team earlier this year not many of his fans believed he would again challenge for the prestigious crown this year. But new crew chief and Beckman have proven the skeptics wrong.  Todd Smith, a proven nitro crew chief, has melded perfectly with Terry Snyder, the team's assistant crew chief, and the oft brutally honest Beckman.

The Valvoline NextGen backed Dodge Charger R/T answered the doubters at Denver by qualifying No. 1 qualifier and winning the event This win is the second win for the team since the realignment and it moved the team to fourth in points just one point out of third after 13 of the 23-race NHRA  Full Throttle tour.

"On any given day anybody can win," Beckman said of his team's victory in the season's eighth race at Topeka, Kan. "But to win two in Nitro Funny Car in any one season is pretty tough to do. But to do it just past midway through the season should put a stamp on it that this team is going to contend the rest of the year

Beckman's Dodge was the quickest winner in each of his four elimination round wins, but two opponents were eliminated when they fouled including arch-rival John Force in the semifinals. "I'd like to think we forced some of the other cars to try something extra to beat us," said Beckman, who has won 14 NHRA pro titles in his career.

Beckman raced Courtney Force in the final.   He wasn't concerned about being the first man to lose a championship round to rookie Courtney Force, who he beat with a 4.277/293.79 lap to her 4.289/283.49.

 "You can think about stuff like that and it will drive you crazy. You have to put everything out of our head, go up there and own the tree and control the racecar.”  

"Courtney is going to get her first one soon, and I don't care if I'm the guy she beats because that would mean we made it to another final."

For the second time in three races rookie sensation Courtney Force was running for the money behind the wheel of her Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car. Today at the 33rd running of the MOPAR Mile-High NHRA Nationals she dropped an incredibly close race to veteran Jack Beckman losing by 9 thousandths of a second in the final, 4.289 seconds to 4.277 seconds. Force reached her first Funny Car final in Chicago two races ago.

“We had a great day. Making it all the way to the final round was huge for our Traxxas Ford Mustang team. Going up against someone like Capps was tough. It’s definitely a challenge taking on someone like that so getting that win against him was huge. Going to our second final in three races shows that I have a great race car and we’re constantly fighting for that top 10 spot. We definitely have a shot at it,” said Force, the front-runner for the Auto Club Road to the Future Award.

THE BATTLE FOR THE BUMP

Words by Jeff Leonard
Photo by Ron Lewis

Have you ever heard the old saying, "The Old Grey Mare ain't what she used to be"? If you apply that old saw to the so-called bump spot that exists in current day NHRA nitro racing, you might have to concede the point. Not so long ago, Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car had enough entries week to week to generate a healthy fight for the final three or four spots in either field. The bump spot was often a story in and of itself with plenty of angst and drama to go around.

By the numbers, the nitro fields at the recently concluded NHRA Mile-High Nationals were lacking. In Top Fuel, the bare minimum 16 cars showed, so there was no drama other than what would be the first-round pairings on Sunday.  

Nitro Funny car didn't look much better, with 17 teams on hand. So, no drama, angst or worries, right? Well, it kind of depends on who you are, where your trip to Denver started, and the resources you brought with you. In Jeff Diehl's case, the trip was long, hard parts were in short supply, and the odds of success seemingly were stacked against a good outcome.

It's 25 hours, one way, from Salinas, California, to the front gate of Bandimere Raceway. Plenty of miles to strategize; just as many to wonder whether this was a good move or not. In Diehl's case, word of Bob Bode's decision to skip the Mile-Highs swung the odds ever so slightly in favor of the Good Outcome. So, think it over morphed into go time, and Diehl started on his way -- by himself. From other starting points, a varied cast of in-laws and outlaws, nitro crew guys, cooks and accountants did the plane, trains and automobile thing and made their way to the Diehl Racing pit area. The shared objective -- get Jeff Diehl back on tour and in the mix in the Nitro Funny Car arena.

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