DSR Team Reports from AAA INSURANCE MIDWEST NATS

Published October 1, 2013

Beckman, Valvoline MaxLife team gains ground in championship with runner-up finish at NHRA Midwest Nationals near St. Louis

Madison, IL – A door opened for Jack Beckman on Sunday in the third of six Countdown to the Championship events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, and it was his Valvoline MaxLife/MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors team that turned the knob.

Beckman entered the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals event at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis 76 points behind Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan, who is ranked No. 1.

Hagan’s crew chief Todd Smith and assistant Terry Snyder placed Beckman in the No. 8 qualifying position in the final round of qualifying on Saturday and nearly repeated that same 4.07-second pass for the first round of Sunday’s eliminations when Beckman defeated Alexis DeJoria.

Beckman was then paired against Hagan in the second round of eliminations for the second consecutive NHRA event. And again Beckman took the round win, knocking out the points leader and giving them an opportunity to strike.

In the semifinal round, Beckman won a pedal fest over Del Worsham and was paired against John Force in the final round. The Valvoline MaxLife team produced a run of 4.127-second but it wasn’t enough to earn the win over Force’s 4.097.

“The problem is we keep opening the door wide open for ourselves and then we fail to take full advantage of it,” Beckman said after the final round. “A runner-up is not bad but we have to win a race.

“We have to win a race if we are going to win the championship. We are probably going to have to win two of the last three races. I guess the upside is we have a car that can do it.”

By advancing to the final round, Beckman moved into No. 3 in NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car standings and cut his points deficit to 44 points behind Hagan and 38 behind No. 2 ranked Force.

Massey defeated in opening round of NHRA Midwest Nationals, stays in Countdown to the Championship hunt after St. Louis

– When Spencer Massey was asked to describe his weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park, he could only think of the phrase that the Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher team was “behind the eight ball.”

During four sessions of qualifying in the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, Massey only made one full lap, clocking a 3.853-second pass to qualify No. 14 for Sunday’s eliminations.

“Obviously it wasn’t a normal weekend for this Battery Extender team,” Massey said. “Our car wasn’t performing like it usually does and we were struggling. We struggled in qualifying and that just put us behind.

“We didn’t get lane choice and it was tough. The right lane wasn’t as good as the left lane in first round today and we got bit.” Only the top eight qualifiers on Sunday get to choose their lanes and Massey’s Battery Extender team wasn’t one of them.

“We’ll be ok. I have a ton of confidence in this team and crew chiefs Phil Shuler and Todd Okuhara. We’ll regroup and go on to Reading and do our best there.”

Despite the first-round loss, Massey remains third in NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel standings and is only 35 behind leader Shawn Langdon.

“It could’ve gone worse for us today,” he said. “The points just got even more bunched up but we are still sitting in that No. 3 spot and we’re in contention and that’s all that matters.”

Capps disappointed with second-round loss at Gateway that hampers chance for NAPA team to win championship

– It wasn’t what Ron Capps and his NAPA Shocks & Struts team wanted and certainly not what they needed Sunday in the AAA Insurance Midwest NHRA Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis.

The NAPA team lost to John Force in the second round of championship eliminations but remained sixth in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship standings with only three events remaining in six-race playoff.

After winning in the first round under beautiful and ideal racing conditions, Capps, who qualified sixth, lost to Force, whose quicker run in the opening round afforded him choice of lanes and the 15-time champion opted for the preferred left lane.

“We accomplished what our NAPA team wanted by qualifying in the top half of the field so we had lane choice in the first round,” Capps said. “We had a good run in the first round with a 4.06 but John just went out and was better (4.038) to get lane choice.”

Capps and Force produced a great side-by-side race with Force, who completed his run in 4.095 seconds at 312.21 mph to edge Capps’ 4.108 (308.99) to win by 0.267 seconds that translated into about half of a car length.

After finishing the 18-race regular season and starting the Countdown ranked second, Capps has lost in the second round twice and first round once in the playoffs. Fortunately for Capps, his chances at the championship weren’t destroyed because Don Schumacher Racing teammate and points leader Matt Hagan lost in the second round at Gateway marking the second event when he did not advance to the semifinals.

Capps will head to the Maple Grove Raceway at Reading, Pa., on Friday trailing Hagan by 111 points.

“We have to win the next three races, and I know (crew chief Rahn) Tobler and our NAPA team can do it,” Capps said.

“It’s not over yet.”

Hagan, Mopar team ousted in second round by DSR teammate but remain NHRA Funny Car points leaders after St. Louis event

– Matt Hagan is a motivator when it comes to his Mopar/Rocky Boots Funny Car team and that’s the role he takes when things don’t go as planned on the dragstrip.

Unfortunately, Hagan had to take that role a little earlier than expected on

Sunday during the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis.

For the second consecutive NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event Hagan lost in the second round to Don Schumacher Racing teammate and reigning world champion Jack Beckman.

But he isn’t going to let it get to him.

“You just have to stay positive,” Hagan said. “We have worked hard to get here and we are going to continue to work hard. We’ve just made a couple mistakes here and there and it has cost us. We’ll nip that stuff in the bud, stay positive and move forward.

“It’s tough racing DSR teammates because you know they are going to go down the track and give you a run and that’s what Beckman has done the past two times we’ve raced them. They’re the world champions right now and they want to stay the champions but we want to take that from them too.”

Hagan took a 57-point lead into Sunday’s eliminations but will leave with only a six-point lead over John Force, who beat Beckman in the championship round.

“We’re all bunched up now. That’s fine. That’s exciting,” Hagan said. “I’ve said since we started this Countdown that I’m not feeling pressure. And I’m not. We know what we have to go out there and do and that’s that.

“We’ll just keep moving forward and that starts with focusing on going to Reading (Pa.) and figuring out what we need to do there.”

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