Beckman gets NHRA funny-car win at Heartland Park
Posted on May 21, 2012
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TOPEKA Don Schumacher Racing teammates Jack Beckman and Ron Capps have a complicated history already this season, and it got even more gnarly Sunday during the funny-car final at the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals at Heartland Park Topeka./ppSquaring off for the 700th funny-car title in the circuits history, Beckman ran a slower time 4.158 seconds compared with Capps 4.107 but crossed the finish line first thanks to a risky hole shot after a staging span class=”italic”faux pas /spanwhen he rolled up too aggressively to the start line./ppIf Im part cat, I used up about four lives, said Beckman, who won his 13th career title and first of the season./ppAt times, the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season has probably seemed like an ongoing April Fools joke for Beckman./ppWhen Capps failed to qualify for eliminations March 31 during the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, crew chief Tim Richards quit./ppThe next day, April 1, ownership decided to shake things up, swapping cars and crews between Capps, who was eighth in points at the time, and Beckman, who was third in the standings./ppSince the changes, Capps has reached the final in all four races, including a runner-up finish three weeks ago in Houston and a win in the last race at Atlanta, while Beckman and his team were seemingly in a free fall./ppIts been an interesting situation, Beckman said. So much transpired since Vegas switching cars, switching trailers, switching teams, going out to Charlotte and having Rahn Tobler tune two cars to knock off a win is tremendous for us./ppThe Valvoline crew has been through four crew chiefs, two drivers and a couple crew members in the last couple years. Theres been so much change over there, but maybe this is what it takes to get everybody on the same page./ppBeckman lit both staging lights on his initial approach to the starting line before Capps had lit his first light, which means Capps could have left his teammate to stew before rolling up to the start the funny-car final./ppI had a hiccup in staging in the final round that could have bit us, Beckman said. Im very fortunate that Ron didnt hang us out (to dry). I dodged a bullet on the starting line there, but Im not sure I could have beaten them any other way./ppMeanwhile, in top fuel, Spencer Massey, who won the 2011 Summernationals title, reached the final again but got beat by David Grubnic this season./ppGrubnic, who had the slowest winning time in the first three rounds, edged Massey by 0.017 seconds for the title, running a 3.893 and nearly reaching 320 miles per hour in the championship./ppThis sport is extremely labor intensive, Grubnic said. Were the total opposite of NASCAR. Were out on the racetrack for 4 seconds and were in the pits for 50 minutes. The crew have to pull that thing apart and put it together perfectly every time, and thats what they did today./ppBut, in some ways, Grubnic, who ended a six-year winless stretch with his second career victory at Heartland Park, was fortunate to have a crack at first place./ppThe top seed to reach the top-fuel semifinals, Brandon Bernstein, blew an engine during the burnout. His day ended in a puddle of oil at the starting line, giving Grubnic a free pass into the final./ppDuring the pro-stock final, No. 1 qualifier Allen Johnson took a bite into points leader Greg Andersons lead with a head-to-head win in the final./ppIm so darn tired of those Summit cars winning that I could grrr, Johnson said. Weve been after them for the last few races and we finally got this win. Were trying to give them a run for their money. This pro-stock championship the rest of the year is going to be a knock-down, drag-out (fight).
Article source: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/20/3619809/beckman-gets-nhra-funny-car-win.html
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