Jack Beckman Earns No. 1 Qualifier in NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals Aboard Mopar-powered Dodge//SRT Charger Hellcat Funny Car

Concord, NC – Dodge//SRT Mopar driver Jack Beckman drove the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car of Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) to the top spot in Sunday’s elimination ladder for the 12th annual NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals with his qualifying run Friday night at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina.

Beckman earned his 26th career No. 1 qualifier position and first at zMAX Dragway with his run of 3.873 seconds at a track-record speed of 334.07 mph, marking the second time in the last four races the 2012 Funny Car champion has set the pace in qualifying. Beckman looks to become the first two-time 2019 Countdown winner after scoring the victory at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals to open the six-race championship playoffs last month. He begins his chase for career win number 30 facing off against No. 16 Dale Creasy.

In the third of six NHRA Countdown to the Championship races, five other Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car drivers qualified for Sunday’s 16-car field: Ron Capps, Matt Hagan, Tommy Johnson, Jr., Cruz Pedregon and Jim Campbell.

Hagan, pilot of the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody Funny Car, put up his best pass of the weekend in the final qualifying session to snare the third position. Capps, the defending NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals winner, joined Beckman and Hagan in the top-five and will start from fourth. Johnson saved his best run for the final qualifying session and ranks eighth heading into Sunday’s eliminations.

In Top Fuel, Leah Pritchett posted a monster run driving the Okuma Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster of DSR to close qualifying Saturday and grabbed the second position in the elimination ladder. She faces No. 15 “The Greek” Chris Karamesines in the opening round of eliminations.