Beckman, Infinite Hero team are No. 1 in qualifying and points; Massey leads DSR dragsters with No. 5 effort at Brainerd
BRAINERD, MN – Jack Beckman and Don Schumacher Racing’s Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T team continues 
its torrid pace by re-setting the track record twice at Brainerd, Minn., on Friday to mark the third consecutive event on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour when the team has set an elapsed-time record.
The team led by crew chief Jimmy Prock with assistants John Medlen and Chris Cunningham were the quickest in the first session at 3.976 seconds, which was the track record.
In the second session, DSR teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. (Make-A-Wish) captured the record with a 3.974 before Courtney Force took it from him.
But the Infinite Hero team ended the early night session with a blockbuster time of 3.946 – the third quickest ever giving the team the four best times in Funny Car history. Its speed of 324.75 mph is a track record and the sixth fastest ever.
Topping that, Beckman earned six bonus points that moved his Infinite Hero team around teammate Matt Hagan (Rocky Boots/Mopar) Dodge for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car points lead.
The last time Beckman was No. 1 in the championship standings was at the end of the 2012 season when his DSR team won the NHRA Funny Car world championship.
“It might be signed by my hand but the pen I’m using belongs to Jimmy Prock, John Medlen and Chris Cunningham,” he said his team on the cusp of a fourth No. 1 qualifying effort.
Qualifying continues Saturday with sessions scheduled for 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. (CT) that lead into Sunday’s championship eliminations that begin at 11 a.m. in the 17th of 24 events on the Mello Yello circuit.
“I appreciate what we’re doing this year so much more than had we been coming off a really good year and were just taking it another step up,” he said of a 55-event 29-month non-winning streak that ended earlier this year at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte. The Infinite Hero team is going for its category-best sixth NHRA Wally trophy of the year.
“This is it. This is more than anyone could hope or ask for.”
The Infinite Hero’s speed of 324.75 topped their previous best of 323.43 that it ran four weeks ago at Sonoma, Calif.
“For it to go a mile-and-a-third faster than we’ve ever gone it has to be hitting on all eight cylinders all the way to the finish line,” he said. “To run that big speed the car has to pull strong on every inch of the run.”
Hagan, who has won four times this year, had held the points lead since leaving Englishtown, N.J., after the ninth race of the season. He also cracked the 4-second barrier at 3.996 that was sixth best of the day.
In Top Fuel, Spencer Massey and the Red Fuel Powered by Schumacher/Sandvik Coromant team led by Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler were quickest among DSR’s dragsters with a time of 3.763 (330.31) for the provisional No. 5 position.
“Day one in Brainerd is a success,” Massey said. “We made two good laps today and that last lap at 330 mph feels like the old days with this Red Fuel dragster. We’re running really strong right now, and we’ll come out here tomorrow and try to learn some more and be ready for race day.
“Phil and Todd have been working hard to get this thing turned around for us and it’s showing. Great confidence building day for this team.”
Points leader Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army) and teammate Antron Brown (Matco Tools/U.S. Army) are qualified ninth and 10th, respectively, after subpar runs.
“We didn’t change much (from the first run),” Brown said of running 3.813 after an opening 6.365. “We just had to get it down the track. We thought it should’ve went a 3.78 or an .80 but it went a little slower because the track was a little better.
“We weren’t pressing hard. We’ll get after it tomorrow. ”
The Mello Yello regular season concludes after the Brainerd race and the U.S. Nationals in two weeks near Indianapolis that will determine the top-10 drivers in points to compete for world championships over the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff.
