Jack Beckman leads off the DRS Summernationals Pre-Event Report
BROWNSBURG, IN – All NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events are special to Jack Beckman but some more so than others.
And this week of the 45th annual NHRA Summernationals at fabled Old Bridge Township Raceway Park at Englishtown, N.J., is one that stands out for the 2012 NHRA Funny Car world champion and driver of Don Schumacher Racing’s Infinite Hero Foundation/Valvoline Dodge Charger R/T.
Competing for the second of six times with the purple and black colors of the Infinite Hero Foundation on his Dodge supports a cause dear to the Southern Californian’s heart, and the trip starts a day early with a visit to associate sponsor Sandvik Coromant on Thursday to enjoy lunch with employees at its headquarters in Fairlawn, N.J., and to raise money to help the Infinite Hero Program (InfiniteHero.org) combat mental and physical issues facing returning military heroes and their families.
Sandvik Coromant is a global leading supplier of cutting tools, tooling solutions and know-how to the metalworking industry.
“This year is going to be unique because our Dodge Charger R/T will have at least six different paint schemes. We’re doing some one-offs with Sandvik, Odyssey Batteries, MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors, several with Valvoline and six with the Infinite Hero Foundation funded by Terry Chandler and Don Schumacher.
“Two years ago we visited Sandvik and they donated $2,800 to our MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors program. One thing that is great about Don Schumacher Racing is how we cross-promote with the sponsors and in this case help raise money for our soldiers and their families who have given more than anyone could have asked.
“Sandvik is a great company that likes to give back. It’s special to be affiliated with companies that not only have great products but also great people.
“We debuted the Infinite Hero Dodge at Houston (April 25-27) and made it to our only championship round this year after our best qualifying effort (No. 2) this season, so we hope good things happen again for the purple and black car. I’m not superstitious so I don’t think it was those colors that helped us but it sure felt good to have some success and be able to go back to that paint scheme.
“The next goal obviously is to win and move up in the points standings but that will take care of itself after winning four times on Sunday and getting the Wally (trophy). It’s been a long time for me, a long time for (assistant crew chief) Terry Snyder and four of our new crew members haven’t won yet.
“I’ve never closed the deal at Englishtown, but this year will be the year.”
After reaching the final round in the February season-opener in Pomona, Calif., the team has advanced past the second round of eliminations only once and that was two weeks ago near Atlanta.
Massey hopes to earn third consecutive win this weekend in the NHRA Summernationals at historic New Jersey track
– Spencer Massey is on a winning streak he hasn’t enjoyed for two years. The last time the Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher team won consecutive NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series event titles was at Las Vegas and Charlotte in 2012.
Massey and the team led by crew chiefs Phil Shuler and Todd Okuhara captured the Wally trophy near Atlanta on May 19 and followed up with a win at Heartland Park Topeka on Sunday.
“It’s pretty dang cool,” Spencer said of winning two consecutive event titles. “Being able to win Atlanta that Monday after all the rain was huge for our team. The guys worked so hard trying to get the car ready to for Topeka, I can’t believe that we stood in the winner’s circle again after the struggles trying to get the car to run the way we wanted it to.”
Now the Battery Extender team will try and make it three in a row this weekend at in the 45th annual Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J. The legendary NHRA facility has been kind to Massey, who has a 2011 event title and was the No. 1 qualifier in 2012.
“We definitely have momentum going,” he said. “I love racing in Englishtown, we got the win there in 2011. Whenever you start winning races it gives the whole team a boost. It seems like once you get one win, it just keeps rolling.
“I look at going to Englishtown like it’s the U.S. Nationals in Indy or the Gatornationals, both huge races in NHRA. It’s a big event for all of the NHRA fans on the East Coast and I love racing there.
“I’ve been around the sport since I was a kid and all the racers I’ve looked up to raced there. Sometime I’m sitting in the race car ready to fire it up and I look down the dragstrip, see all the fans in the stands and go ‘Man, I can’t believe I’m sitting here in a Top Fuel dragster.’ I used to be sitting in the stands wishing one day I’d have a chance to do this. It’s a huge wow factor.
“It’s very cool to go to racetracks where the greats have been racing for more than 40 years.”
Memories of ’12 run have Capps, NAPA eager for Englishtown return
– Ron Capps is a true historian of NHRA racing and when he flips open the 2014 NHRA Media Guide and turns to page 255, under Old Bridge Township Raceway Park Track Records, it lists 3.964 seconds Ron Capps and 320.89 mph Ron Capps.
Two years ago on Friday, June 1, in the NHRA Summernationals, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T led by crew chief Rahn Tobler posted the jaw-dropping run under the lights at the historic East Coast facility. The 3.964-second elapsed time was quick enough for one of Ron’s 16 career No. 1 qualifying awards and still remains the quickest Funny Car pass recorded at 1,000-feet.
“That place has historically had such big moments in our sport and for our NAPA team it still holds one of biggest moments any Funny Car team can talk about and that’s that 3.96 run we made,” Ron said. “We knew going in there it would be stout with really good conditions and we made a good opening lap and Tobler went for it and it made it on the night run.”
While Ron came up short to former DSR teammate Johnny Gray in the final round two days later, he did taste victory at the famed central New Jersey track in 2006 in another classic all-DSR final round beating four-time NHRA champion Gary Scelzi on a holeshot.
“It’s one of those tracks that you seem to feel like you’ve accomplished a little more when you win there and we did that in 2006,” Ron said of his only victory at Raceway Park. “When you grew up and read about Raceway Park and heard those crazy radio commercials, you want to do well there.
“There’s nothing like the fans from New Jersey and surrounding area, they’re intense. You know how they feel and the place is always packed. I remember driving into the track for the first time when I drove for Don Prudhomme and all the historic events that have taken place, it really overwhelms you.”
Ron and the NAPA team hope to overwhelm Raceway Park again when racing begins Friday as they try to their first event title of the season and 41st of his career.
“If we see conditions on Friday night like we did two years ago, there’s no doubt somebody is going to break that mark,” he said. “The runs we saw at the beginning of this year with guys dipping into the mid-3.90s, there’ s nothing cooler than going into a track knowing you have a shot at history.”
“That’s right up there with my favorites wins,” he said of the 2005 Pro Stock Motorcycle win. “Anytime you can win at your home track it holds a special place in your heart. it was great to win it with my family and friends there.
“I’ve been in the finals there twice in Top Fuel, and when I can win there in Top Fuel it will be the icing on the cake for me. We’re working hard for it.”
Antron and the Matco Tools team led by crew chiefs Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald along with assistant Brad Mason will arrive at Englishtown ranked second in points with a series-leading three event titles. They are coming off only its second first-round loss though eight events.
“Englishtown can be tough and grueling because the weather can be warm and humid or cool. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can go there and put down some great ETs.”
