The GOAT of Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series Funny Car class, John Force has found the right substitute as he recovers from a massive engine explosion that caused both a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as well as other functional issues to his body. After 15 days in Virginia following this accident during the first round of Funny Car eliminations at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals on Virginia Motorsports Park’s dragstrip, a little more time in an Arizona facility that specializes in motorsports TBIs, Force returned to his Yorba Linda home late last week.
The 16-time champion and 157-race winner will need time to recover from all of his injuries. His team decided last week that the best course of action was to effect substitution in Force’s PEAK Antifreeze and Cooland Chevrolet Camaro SS, starting with this weekend’s non-points-paying 47th annual Cornwell Tools “Night Under Fire” at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
The driver? None other than 2012 Funny Car champion Jack Beckman, a Southern California racer who’s been out of commission since Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) folded its tents as its namesake became ill, and the Maynard family took over in mid-2022. JCM Racing became a multi-car NHRA team in 2022, but both Beckman and Tommy Johnson Jr., who had been driving Schumacher’s Dodge Charger SRT Hellcats along with Matt Hagan, were pretty much sent to pasture after 2020.
When the NHRA community learned that John Force Racing’s president, Robert Hight, intended to field the PEAK Funny Car driven by his father-in-law and team owner, many were hoping the nod would go to Beckman, or maybe even Johnson Jr. On Tuesday, July 30th, Hight declared the seat was Beckman’s for the remainder of the 2024 NHRA season in what the JFR team is calling, “Joint Task Force — Mission Championship.”
“Fast Jack” will make his first passes this weekend at Norwalk and will have his John Force Racing Top Fuel teammate Brittany Force on-hand, driving her Cornwell-sponsored dragster in this special competition.
When Force was injured in mid-June at Richmond, Virginia, he held second-place points to Hight’s substitute Austin Prock. Thee-time champ Robert Hight has been out of the seat as he rises to the challenge of his own medical issues. NHRA rules dictate that, when a rider is unable to compete, that driver’s team may use a substitute, who can earn points for the original driver in a maximum of eight Mission Foods events.
When Jack Beckman rolls through the water box for the first time, August 15-18, in the 42nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, he’ll be racing with the intent of bringing home a 17th NHRA Funny Car championship for John Force. The legend, after missing Norwalk’s NHRA race and the two Western Swing contests in Seattle and Sonoma, currently holds sixth-place in the Flopper standings, with two contests still to be run – at Brainerd and Indianapolis – before points reset for NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship.
In naming Beckman to race for Force, Hight mused, “When you think about someone who can handle the driving, can deal with the media, take care of the sponsors and take care of the fans, there was only one obvious choice and that was Jack Beckman. Plus,” Hight added, “he has history with Chris Cunningham (co-crew chief on the PEAK Chevy with Dan Hood and Tim Fabrisi) and he has the respect of John’s family.”
Jack Beckman has gone to NHRA’s Winner’s Circle 33 times in his Funny Car career; he last raced competitively in 2020, then returned to being a full-time elevator technician, a career the 58-year-old left 22 years earlier to follow his drag racing dreams. Beckman, a true student of this sport, is very much aware of both the pending opportunity and the unique challenges he’ll be facing with this situation:
“It’s been nearly four years since I stood on the throttle,” Beckman said, “and I thought that feeling was something I’d never experience again. Though the circumstances that brought me back are regrettable, the opportunity presented to me is beyond my ability to find words. I’m not replacing John – nobody could ever do that! John is one of a kind, and his impact on this sport, and my life, cannot be overemphasized. I know how fortunate I am to have been picked to fill in for John, and I should be easy to spot in the pits. I’ll be the guy who can’t stop smiling.”
Brian Bohlander, director of marketing at Old World Industries, makers of PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant, expressed his pleasure at John Force Racing’s choice of a replacement racer. “We’re happy to have the PEAK team back on track and Jack is the right person for this job – until John can return. it’s great for the fans and our customers, as Jack is an automotive enthusiast and DIYer who will fit right in with our program, both on and off the track.”
Although his championship year came in 2012, Beckman’s best pro season occurred during the 2015 campaign, when he went to nine final rounds and won seven races. He came up just 56 points shy of becoming a two-time NHRA Funny Car titleholder. A cancer survivor and U.S. Air Force veteran, Beckman has taught more than 7,000 students the basics of drag racing as a Frank Hawley Drag Racing School instructor. Among his student graduates are three of John Force’s daughters who have gone on to race both Funny Car and Top Fuel: Ashley, Brittany and Courtney. He also schooled John Force’s wife Laurie, who earned her Super Comp license under Beckman’s watchful eyes.
Beckman’s first title came in 2003, when he earned the NHRA Super Comp World Championship. He is licensed in 12 different categories including Top Fuel, the class in which he made his 2005 professional racing debut. A year later Beckman morphed to Funny Car late in the season; in his fourth race driving a Flopper, Beckman won the NHRA Nevada Nationals on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. A couple of weeks later, during the season-closing World Finals in Pomona, he earned the No. 1 qualifier, set NHRA National records for time and speed and finished second in the closing competition – to John Force.
Beckman is one of the very few racers in Funny Car who enjoy a winning record against Hall of Fame driver Force. Force won his 16th title in 2013 after starting the Countdown from fourth position, of 10 competitors. Beckman won his 2012 title from the third starting position. Robert Hight, team president, made history in 2009 for himself and John Force Racing, when he won his first championship from the way back tenth position.
Although Beckman hasn’t been in the driver’s seat for several years, he has been in the pits and he has used his speaking talents on a variety of occasions, most recently at the March celebration of life for the great Roland Leong.
I was hoping it would be Jack or Tommy, great choice.
Have missed fast jacks interviews he always had a smile and brought a smile
Could not have chosen a better person.
I always loved fast jack and his energy!! Great move , think he will do great!