Tuesday, 06 July 2010 00:00

BECKMAN EMBARKS ON CROSS-COUNTRY TOUR BEGINNING IN SEATTLE

NORCO, Calif. (July 6, 2010) - Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car racer Jack Beckman, with wife Jenna and 3-year-old son Jason in tow, will embark on a cross-country tour in their motor coach, beginning with the first race of the Western Swing, the 23rd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals in Washington State. Beckman was the class titlist at this event in 2007.

After a weekend off following a grueling three-race back-to-back stretch, Beckman and family have been packing up this week in preparation for the first leg of their trip, Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., for this weekend's event. They will then continue on to Sonoma, Calif., and Denver to complete the Swing before the season's final seven races, six of which incorporate the Countdown to 1 playoffs.

"Having the July 4 weekend off of gave us a chance to take a breath because we had four in a row and six in seven weeks," said Beckman, third in the point standings and winner of one national event so far in 2010. "We had a chance to come up for air, and now we have three in a row. And we get that two-week break before Brainerd, Minn. Then we have three weeks off until the first race of the Countdown in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend. It's very odd the way the schedule has rolled this year.

"We're packing everything up for the rest of the year. Having the family at all the remaining races will be comfortable for me. I've won Seattle before so there's a comfort level there as well.

"And, the way we've been running with this brand-new chassis since Chicago - we've pretty much gone rounds everywhere - I'm very encouraged. We're running well in both cool or hot weather. You can bring on anything but rain and I think we can run good in it."

Mail Terminal Services will continue to send boxes of post cards of support and encouragement, along with hand-out cards of DSR drivers, National Dragster and Drag Racing Action magazines to soldiers overseas. This year the program expands the opportunity to participate beyond just the NHRA fans and are including schools and service organizations. If a school or organization would like to write post cards of encouragement to the U.S. troops, the request should be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . MTS will be pleased to send post cards for the project and signed handout cards from Funny Car driver Jack Beckman and a Certificate of Service for the school or organization.

To find out more about Mail Terminal Services go to www.mailterminals.com <http://www.mailterminals.com/> .

JACK BECKMAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 4 in 2010 Funny Car points after 13 events: including four semifinal finishes, a victory in Phoenix  and a runner-up in St. Louis
* Is the 2007 Seattle Funny Car champion
* Qualified No. 14 in 2009 Seattle, lost second round to Ron Capps
* Has 19-12 round-win record for 2010
* Ended 2009 No. 5 in point standings, winning two events in five final rounds (Atlanta; Norwalk, Ohio)
* Entered 2009 Countdown to 1 in fifth place
* His 2009 round win-loss record is 29-22
* No. 3 in 2008 Funny Car point standings, with three victories - Phoenix, Reading, Concord - in seven final rounds
* Was bumped out of the 2007 Countdown to Four playoffs standings at the Richmond, Va., event, after his teammates Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps reached the semifinal round. Ended the season No. 5 in points
* In his 101 national events in Top Fuel and Funny Car, he has won nine times in 19 final rounds (all in Funny Car), and has a career round win-loss record of 117-87
* Is the 2007 U.S. Smokeless Showdown winner ($100,000 bonus event held at U.S. Nationals)
* Set national elapsed-time record of 4.662 seconds and national speed record of 333.66 mph (on quarter-mile) at final 2006 event in Pomona,  Calif. The ET record has since been eclipsed. Beckman still holds the speed record
* As a Funny Car rookie in the last five races of 2006, he qualified No. 1 once (Pomona 2), reached two final rounds (Las Vegas 2 and Pomona 2), won once (Vegas 2), and set both ends of the national record (Pomona 2)
* Residence: Norco, Calif.
* Hometown: Granada Hills, Calif.
* Date of birth: June 28, 1966
* Married, Jenna (wedding date 11/7/06), son Jason Russell (3/8/07)
* Height/weight: 6'0", 185 lbs.
* Former instructor and current consultant at Frank Hawley's NHRA Championship Drag Racing School; former Sergeant in U.S. Air Force (1984-88); cancer survivor; licensed in nine different NHRA categories
* First Start in TF: Las Vegas 1 2005
* First Start in FC: , Dallas,  Texas, 2006
* Competed in only 12 TF events in 2005, ended season 15th in points
* Career-best elapsed time racing to 1000 feet is 4.040 seconds (Concord 1 '09)
* Career-best speed racing to 1000 feet is 314.61 mph (Chicago '10)
* Career-best FC (quarter-mile) elapsed time: 4.662 seconds (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best FC (quarter-mile) speed: 333.66 mph (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best TF (quarter-mile) elapsed time: 4.563 seconds (TF, Brainerd 2005)
* Career-best (quarter-mile) TF speed: 324.28 mph (TF, Brainerd 2005)
* In 2003 won Super Comp world championship in Lucas Oil Series and Division 7 Super Comp championship
* Leads 14-time champion John Force in head-to-head round wins: 11-6 (2-1 in final rounds) - DOES NOT INCLUDE CONCORD FOUR-WIDE EVENT

SCHEDULE:      
FRIDAY, July 9 - FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, July 10 - FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at noon and 3 p.m.
SUNDAY, July 11 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. FULL THROTTLE SERIES eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

TELEVISION:  
Saturday, July 10, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 10 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, July 11, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute news magazine show, at 11 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, July 11, ESPN3.com will televise three hours of coverage starting at 7 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, July 11, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of coverage starting at 11:30 p.m. (ET).

SATELLITE:   
Friday, July 9, 10 - 10:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 1 / Transponder 18K
(Digital SD feed)  
Saturday, July 10, 9:30 - 10 p.m. (ET), AMC 1 / Transponder 18K
Sunday, July 11, 10:30 - 11 p.m. (ET), AMC 1 / Transponder 18K                         
(12060 MHz, vertical; Data Rate: 18.295441161 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 13.235 Ms; FEC: ?; Bandwidth: 18 Mhz)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners’ interviews on Sunday.


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