Jack Beckman laid down his portion of a dominant performance for John Force Racing at the 65th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals on Saturday at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
Beckman increased his round win streak to six consecutive rounds at Pomona by winning the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge specialty race.
Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) also drove their way to victory Saturday afternoon.
In the final round, Beckman posted a time of 3.831 seconds at 330.72 mph in his PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS to beat Paul Lee in the final round. This marked Beckman’s first victory in the specialty race.
“Paul Lee’s car is an A-level competitive car, and when we went 3.83 in round one, we were feeling pretty spicy, and then they go 3.82 and got lane choice, but we knew it didn’t matter,” Beckman said.
“These conditions are A-plus-plus, as good as it gets out there. The issue when the track gets as good as the crew chiefs don’t have much data on this. We know what to do when the track gets good, but when the track gets great, you can count on one hand, typically, the number of runs a year you get when the track is phenomenal. In all likelihood, all the runs tomorrow are going to be in those type of conditions.”
In Top Fuel, Kalitta Motorsports continued to flex its muscle as Langdon defeated teammate Doug Kalitta in the final round, with a run of 3.662 seconds at 338.68 mph in his Kalitta Air Careers dragster. This victory earned Langdon his second consecutive Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge title.
Langdon won the event in Phoenix last weekend, and his latest performance marked the second-fastest run in Top Fuel history. He heads into Sunday’s eliminations with the third-best time of the weekend and an opportunity to double up for the second straight race.
“Honestly, it’s a great feeling to come back from the run and see the smile on Connie’s (Kalitta) face and see the smiles on the team’s faces. All their hard work, everything’s paying off,” Kalitta said. “The cars are running good, which is great. They’re responding well to what the crew chiefs have been doing.
“It’s obviously a great feeling when everything’s clicking, and the biggest thing now is we got a good, fast, consistent race car. Now it’s just a matter of maintaining it and trying to see if we can kick off a couple wins along the way and get ready for the Countdown at the end of the year.”
Hartford defeated Greg Anderson in the final round of the Pro Stock portion of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, recording a time of 6.496 seconds at 210.67 mph. This win marked Hartford’s second victory in the specialty event, with his first win occurring two years ago in Pomona.
“This is as good a car as I’ve ever had. It’s hateful,” Hartford said. “A win is the next thing for us, but you’ve got to get through first round and take it one round at a time.”
Hartford acknowledged the competitive field, noting the high caliber of cars, including first-round opponent Troy Coughlin Jr. “The conditions tomorrow are going to be hateful … the cars are all going to pick up tomorrow,” he added.
