Jack is Back – Jack Beckman Gets John Force Racing a Victory in Funny Car - Moves John Force to Second in Season Points
From tragic tales can come truly amazing moments. It was June 23rd when John Force suffered a horrific crash during a round one victory at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Just over three months later, Force’s Cornwell Tools Camaro funny car claimed an emotional victory at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) national event at Worldwide Technology Raceway in St. Louis, Missouri.
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Immediately after Force’s crash, he was transported to VCU Medical Center, where he spent fifteen days before being released to a neurological rehab center for treatment of his traumatic brain injury. One month after the accident, John was discharged from Barrow Neurological Institute to go home to California and continue his recovery from home.
Force’s Camaro funny car sat silent for just over a month before a replacement driver was named. That replacement driver, Jack Beckman, would be asked to step into the shoes of a legendary man, and he was ready to accept that challenge.
Beckman, like Force, has come up through the ranks to rightfully earn his seat in a funny car. A Frank Hawley Drag Racing school instructor, a former NHRA national Super Comp and Funny Car champion, and a stage four cancer survivor, Beckman had not seen the seat of a funny car in NHRA competition in 44 months, when his ride lost funding and was parked.
But Beckman got the call to fill-in for John Force, and with it, continue to carry Force’s chances for a season championship. That’s right; even though Beckman is in the seat, the NHRA rules state that a replacement driver can be substituted for a number of reasons, and that replacement driver will continue to gain points for the driver that was originally in the vehicle at the time of the incident.
Force was second in NHRA Funny Car points when his crash occurred, he had dropped all the way to sixth place when Beckman inserted himself into the car for the first time on August 2nd at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. On that first day back, he clocked a 4.007 at 308.28 mph blast, showing there wasn’t much rust for ‘Fast’ Jack.
John Force Racing has already had an amazing year for on track performance, as in addition to Force winning this year, Austin Prock, who took the reins of the Cornwell Tools Funny Car for former class champ Robert Hight, has scored seven event wins thus far in 2024, and leads the class points chase.
But yesterday win was different, emotional, redeeming, seemed right. It was a redemption moment for Force, and for Beckman.
With the win, Beckman vaults Force’s points total to 2349, just 105 points (or five rounds of racing) behind points leader Prock. With three races left in the season, Beckman has a chance to make something happen that hasn’t happened since 2013: put John Force’s name in the Funny Car Champion position, which would be the 17th championship for John Force, and John Force Racing’s 23rd team championship.
To be fair, there are three races remaining in the 2024 NHRA national season. Prock has had a great season, and will not give up in his determination to win his first championship.
There are also eight other funny car competitors with a mathematical chance of claiming the championship for themselves.
But on the afternoon of September 29th, Beckman felt like his second chance was paying off. He’ll be back to his regular job as an elevator technician tomorrow, but as Beckman said: “I will be fixing elevators Tuesday with a giant smile on my face!”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of John Force Racing and Jack Beckman.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com