Take a moment to breathe it in. Because it is not very often you get to see a qualifying session quite like the one NHRA fans saw Friday night.

With near-perfect conditions and one of the most competitive fields in NHRA history in the Funny Car category, a perfect storm was formed at Sonoma Raceway on Friday as seven drivers dipped into the three-second zone and one of those drivers - Funny Cars hottest driver “Fast” Jack Beckman - laid down the quickest pass in NHRA history to pace the Funny Car field by a commanding margin all on day one at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, Calif.

Beckman, who has won two of the last three races and four total in 2015, made the quickest pass in NHRA history Friday night with a 3.921-second lap at 323.43 mph to take the top spot by a wide margin over teammate Matt Hagan. The two Don Schumacher Racing drivers ended what was already a historical session with a side-by-side race that produced two track records and, what could by the end of the weekend, end up as the new Funny Car world record.

“If you would have asked me yesterday if I thought we could run a 3.92, I would have thought you were drinking. Nobody could ever expect something like that,” Beckman said. “Earlier today I went up to the NAPA suite to talk to a group up there and they asked me, ‘what do you think the cars can run.’ I told them that I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody set the national record tonight.

“I didn’t realize we were going to obliterate the thing.”

Beckman’s 3.921-second pass Friday night bested the current world record of 3.965 set by John Force in February of 2014 by .044. Ironically, his pass was actually too quick to officially set the new mark as the team goes back to the drawing board in an attempt to officially put the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car in the record books.

“On the first run, when I went by the scoreboards and I saw the 3.98, I thought, wow, we were low ET by three hundredths. That is a big chunk. And then the second session, Force went out and shook the tires which tells me the racetrack is better than people think and he still goes 3.970. At that point I know we can run a low 3.96 out there.

“And then this thing goes out and it is hunting. The front end feels light and it is almost like steering one of those radio flyer wagons. When I looked up at the scoreboard, I actually thought that I didn’t read it right because nobody is going to run a 3.92 in a Funny Car. So I wait for John Medlen to come on the radio and he said 3.92. I just couldn’t believe it.

“Matt Hagan ran what would have been one of the all-time quicker runs in Funny Car and the fastest speed ever and he told me down there, ‘dude, we weren’t even in the same ballpark with you guys.’ It was just humbling.”

Behind Beckman was Hagan, who would have made headlines of his own had it not been for the lap heard round the world. Hagan’s 3.967 at a track-best 325.77 mph was second quickest on Friday. John Force was third with a 3.970 at 322.96 mph, followed by Ron Capps and Alexis DeJoria.

Needless to say, it would take another record run to knock Beckman out of the No. 1 spot on Saturday, giving Beckman plenty of confidence that he will be able to hold on for his 12th career top qualifier award on Saturday.

“For somebody to beat a 3.92, lets just say I will go over and personally sign their green No. 1 qualifier hat for them. If somebody does that, it would be absolutely extraordinary,” Beckman said.

Instead, the four-time winner and current No. 2 man in points will focus on using his passes wisely on Saturday and get his car ready for an expected wild day of eliminations on Sunday.

“What I want tomorrow is a run in the heat. These night runs are great, but they teach us nothing for Sunday and we struggled in Denver because of that,” Beckman said. “These runs are fantastic, they are good for career bests and they are good for the fans, but they are good for nothing when it comes to race day.

“The second session should be really good tomorrow. That will be the one where we shoot for the backup to the national record.”

Either way, it is not lost on Beckman what Friday’s pass means in the grand scheme of things as he continues to celebrate a career year in 2015.

“I am just going to dumb myself down and tell you, I am the luckiest guy in a fuel coupe right now,” Beckman said.

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