First Trophy of Year for Dodge Driver Beckman, Eighth Win of Season for Mopar at NHRA Chicago.
Hemi and Mopar enthusiasts from Holbrook to Riverhead and all over Eastern Long Island watched a near repeat of last year's NHRA Nationals. Just like last season at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago, there were two Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars battling it out for the trophy in the waning moments of the 19th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals. At the 2015 event, Tommy Johnson Jr. scored the win over Matt Hagan in their head-to-head HEMI battle, and this time around it was Jack Beckman and Ron Capps locking horns with the trophy in sight. Ultimately, it was Beckman who scored the win, putting an exclamation point on a weekend of powerful performances and memorable milestones for Team Mopar.
"On behalf of everyone at Mopar, I would like to congratulate Jack Beckman on his first victory of the season with the title win at Chicago," said Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA - Global. "It's great to see a Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car in the winner's circle for an eighth time this season."
The win was the seventh in a row for the Dodge Charger Funny Cars, and it came in the sixth all-Mopar final of the year. Of particular note, a DSR Dodge Charger has won the Chicago trophy in each of the last four seasons.
Beckman's Dodge Charger was hot in the Windy City this year, and he blazed into Sunday with a 3.928-second pass at 327.59 mph that was the fastest speed of the first round in a swift defeat of a traction-troubled John Hale. Beckman had the second quickest and fastest pass of round two, a 3.939/325.92, in a decisive victory over another troubled opponent, Courtney Force, who limped to a 6-second pass. Beckman disposed of Force's teammate, Robert Hight, in the semifinals with a 3.955/324.05 to 3.970/323.12. With the win light came Beckman's ticket to the 48th Funny Car final round of his career and 4th of the season.
In the final, Beckman and Capps left the starting line nearly together in their respective HEMI-powered Funny Cars, but Beckman and the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T kept ahead to claim victory on a 3.955/324.05 over Capps, who rattled the tires down track and slowed to a 4.522/194.74. The win was Beckman's first of the season and 23rd of his career.
"With the newer Charger bodies, the windshield is much farther back, and we can see out the sides a lot more," said Beckman. "I saw a whole lot of [Capps'] front fender out there, and I go, 'Oh….' and about the time I got to 'no,' it disappeared. When a car disappears out of your peripheral vision that fast, you know they've smoked the tires, and unless you have a huge problem, there is no way they're getting around you. At this point, it's keep it in the middle of the lane, don't hit anything, and get the 'chutes out. It was a great feeling watching that win light come on.
"Our Infinite Hero Dodge Charger was darn near flawless today," continued Beckman, who also has two wins in NHRA's Super Comp sportsman category. "I thought we had so much momentum last year. We won Maple Grove [Reading, Pa.] in the Countdown, but we hadn't seen a winner's circle since then. Even though we've been to three final rounds this year, set the national record this year and qualified No. 1 four times, we just couldn't put it together. We would either run good in the heat and not in the cool track conditions, or we'd run great in the 'hero' conditions and couldn't get down the track in the heat. But we found some things [in testing] that started pointing us in the right direction.
"The thing I've recognized over my 10-year career in Funny Car is patience. That pendulum always goes both ways. You just keep picking away at it. It was a little bit frustrating to have been the only one of our four DSR Funny Cars that hadn't closed the deal, but we knew. We knew we would find it."
The Big 600
Beckman claimed the Chicago win, and Capps – the incoming points leader and a four-time winner this season – also had reason to celebrate on Sunday.
In the second round of eliminations, veteran nitro campaigner Capps scored a monumental 600th round win in a Funny Car with a smooth and steady defeat of Bob Tasca.
"I've been lucky to have driven for some great team owners, like 'Snake' [Don Prudhomme] and Don Schumacher," said Capps, who went on to compete in the 96th final round of his career in Chicago. "And I've had so many hall-of-fame crew chiefs. My 600th round win in this Dodge Charger will always remind me that I did it with the best Funny Car I've driven in my 19 years of racing. I know my name will be on the list, but there are so many others who deserve to share the credit."
Capps' milestone victory set him up for a meeting with No. 1 qualifier and DSR Mopar Dodge teammate Hagan in the semifinals. Hagan had low elapsed time of raceday in the first round with a 3.917 and was on a tear in his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T, but when he smoked the tires ferociously just as he left the starting line, the round win was virtually handed to Capps, who finished with a strong 4.003/314.02.