Jack Beckman secured both the No. 1 Funny Car qualifying position and the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge win Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway during the 43rd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
Beckman powered his 12,000-horsepower Chevrolet SS to a 3.879-second pass at 330.63 mph in Q3 and followed it with a 3.942 at 324.59 mph in the final round of the Mission Challenge, defeating Matt Hagan.
The results marked Beckman’s fourth No. 1 qualifier of the 2025 season and his third Mission Challenge victory since returning to Funny Car one year ago as a substitute for the injured John Force.
“We were even better late last year into early this year,” Beckman said. “Our tune-up window was massive. We could miss it and still be a top-three car for the session. It just seemed like, when we went back to last year’s car after I wrecked in Epping, it was telling us it wanted something a little bit different.”
Beckman said the team found the car’s sweet spot during the Seattle race and has been working to regain the broad tuning window that made them competitive throughout 2024.
“Seattle was the eye-opener for us, where we said, ‘Okay, this thing wants more here,’ and we did that,” Beckman said. “I think we’re getting right back in the middle of having that large tune-up window again.”
Despite calling his team’s early-season performance “struggling,” Beckman still entered Brainerd second in points with a race win, a No. 1 qualifier, and two Mission Challenge wins already secured.
“I’ve been spoiled my entire career,” Beckman said. “I have driven for Don Schumacher, and I have driven for John Force. I have always rolled into the racetrack with a car that was capable of winning a race.”
Beckman reflected on his return to the sport after losing sponsorship and going back to work as an elevator mechanic.
“I was out of sponsorship, out of racing, back to fixing elevators,” Beckman said. “Almost four years later, John Force gets hurt, and Robert Hight calls me, and now here I am again, with a second chance of chasing my dreams.”
Beckman initially questioned the value of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge when it was introduced but has since changed his stance.
“I thought they were silly,” Beckman said. “Saturday can be a little bit anticlimactic when your hero run was Friday night. I actually think this is one of the smarter moves that NHRA has made in the last decade.”
Beckman emphasized the value of the points that the Mission Challenge contributes to the Countdown to the Championship, especially once the playoff reset compresses the field.
“Those points that go into the Countdown, wow,” Beckman said. “I get why NHRA did it. They don’t want the big teams going out there, smoking the tires and just lifting. They want them to have a big carrot too, and that carrot’s not just the points—it’s points that roll over into the Countdown deal.”
Beckman added that the specialty race has become strategically important as teams approach the final races of the regular season.
“It might seem like just three points now,” Beckman said. “But after the reset, when there are 10 points separating positions, that’s huge. You could change positions in the Countdown standings just from winning these.”
Beckman now looks ahead to Sunday eliminations, where he’ll open against Dave Richards in search of his third win of the season.
“We qualified first. That’s great, and we didn’t do it on a one-and-done run,” Beckman said. “Our first run on Q1, we hit the bump at 330. We were pushing too hard. Q2, we went 3.90. Austin [Prock] went 3.893, so we were right there.”
Beckman noted changing weather conditions throughout the day that impacted their approach to Q4.
“We rolled up for the final Mission Foods run, and the clouds were back in,” he said. “We thought, ‘Okay, here’s another shot to throw down,’ and then the sun comes out. The track got hotter and hotter. We just didn’t want to be overly aggressive.”
Beckman’s consistency throughout Saturday gave him confidence in the team’s trajectory heading into the final stretch of the season.
“Our 3.942 was getting right in the middle of that tune-up window,” he said. “We’re just trying to stay in that zone, and it’s paying off.”
Points leader Austin Prock qualified second with a 3.893 at 331.45, and Hunter Green jumped to third with a 3.906 at 332.67 in the final session. Eliminations begin Sunday at 10 a.m. CT.
