Beckman Will Race John Force’s Chevy SS Funny Car in 2025
John Force Racing took over the floor of the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis on Friday, December 13, 2024, with the announcement that Jack Beckman, winner of the NHRA’s In-N-Out Burger Finals, would continue in John Force’s PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS in 2025, after elevating the legend’s points standing from sixth to second in his eight-race 2024 campaign.
Force, injured in June at Richmond, is still recuperating from his injuries. He did attend the final two races of the 2024 season, watching as Austin Prock earned his first Funny Car title in the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series and broke the 340-mph barrier on the final day of competition. He also saw his car, driven by 2012 Funny Car titleholder Beckman, win the final race of the year.
At the PRI show, Old World Industries (OWI) announced it would continue with the team and with both Force and Beckman for the next few years. “The last eight races, we saw the NHRA is definitely better for having Jack Beckman back in the driver’s seat,” noted Brian Bohlander, OWI’s director of sports marketing. “We’re excited to have John, Jack and the entire JFR organization representing the PEAK and BlueDEF brands for years to come. Jack,” he said, “has done a tremendous job, on and off the track, and has earned this opportunity to race full-time for the championship.”
Under NHRA rules, Beckman was able to substitute for Force for no more than eight points-paying races last season. He had his first re-indoctrination to the sport – after four years out of the cockpit – at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio during the “Night Under Fire” match race in August and returned to NHRA action at the next race in Brainerd International Raceway. From there, Beckman recorded two wins in eight races and advanced Force’s Chevy from sixth place, before he assumed the seat, to second at the close of the racing season.
Along the way, Beckman raced to three final rounds, earned two victories at St. Louis and in the season closer at Pomona. Like most racing drivers Beckman, during his career with Don Schumacher Racing, thought about nothing else but driving the car. “Even when I was mowing the lawn, I thought about the procedures I take when I’m in the Funny Car,” he said. During his long layoff, Beckman went back to the job he’d held before Schumacher hired him, as an elevator repairman. He blocked racing out of his mind during the long layoff, but just like riding a bike, it came back to him.
As a full-time instructor at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School (and yes, Hawley was on-site to congratulate Beckman), Jack Beckman has taught more than 7,000 students the basics of drag racing. Among those students were Force’s wife Laurie, and his racing daughters Ashley, Brittany and Courtney.
“I am thrilled,” he said of his new full-time driving contract in support of Force for the coming year and beyond, “to continue a partnership with PEAK and BlueDEF and look forward to returning to JFR in 2025. As a car enthusiast, I believe in using the best products available for both personal and professional applications. PEAK and BlueDEF products are trusted for our support vehicles and haulers, ensuring reliability and performance.”
One aspect of John Force’s career that Jack Beckman is able to replicate is his ability to talk with the fans and help them enjoy the sport of drag racing. His enthusiasm, like Force’s is contagious. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a cancer survivor, Jack Beckman has secured 37 NHRA national victories, 35 of them while driving a Funny Car. He is the 11th different driver to win a national tour event for John Force Racing and the tenth to do so in the Funny Car class, over which John Force has reigned as a 16-time victor, securing 157 Wally winner’s trophies.
“Beckman’s doing the job for PEAK and BlueDEF,” Force said in a video. “I’m still going to therapy every week and working as hard as I can to get back out there with the sponsors and the fans in a sport I love and I miss,” he stated. “I’ve still got a lot of things I want to do, so I don’t want anybody thinking they’ve seen the last of John Force. We’ll have a lot more to talk about after the holidays,” he warned.
During the press conference, newly-married Brittany Force talked about the period of time from when her father was injured until she felt comfortable being in her dragster again. At one point she was out of the top 10 in class, but recovered during the Countdown to the Championship six-race playoffs to earn fifth place in the final standings. She related the difficulties concentrating on her work when she was so worried about the condition of her father, acknowledging that his injuries were exceptionally concerning to her. She returned from her honeymoon to join Beckman in accepting awards for her father, John.
In fan-voted moves, John Force received two awards as the Fan Favorite (for the second straight season) and Person of the Year. Teammate Austin Prock, winner of the 2024 NHRA Funny Car championship, was named by fans as Pro Driver of the Year, while his crew chiefs, Jimmy Prock, Thomas Prock and Nate Hildahl were accorded National Dragster Tuners of the Year award.