Jack Beckman is Back: Elevators and Funny Cars Help NHRA Champ to New Heights

For three years and nine months, Jack Beckman didn’t strap into a nitromethane-powered Funny Car. While the former NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series champion missed the sport, from November 2020 to July 2024 he came to terms with the fact his career might be over. After all, he'd had a 14-year run before the funding went away on his longtime ride.

He had returned to his life repairing elevators around his Southern California home after more than two decades away, making a living while following the NHRA tour as a fan. He received a few offers to get behind the wheel here and there, but wanted to be in a competitive car where he didn’t need to bring sponsorship dollars.

Then, his phone rang.

At Virginia Motorsports Park south of Richmond in June, 16-time Funny Car champion John Force had suffered a crash that would take perhaps the greatest and most popular driver of all time out of the car for the season.

When the dust settled, Team Chevy-backed John Force Racing (JFR) knew they needed a replacement in the Camaro SS. Force was in the midst of a title run, and NHRA had instituted a policy that would allow the car’s primary driver to still earn points if someone replaced him or her for a maximum of eight races. With the six-race Countdown to the Championship on the horizon, plus two tuneup races available – including the prestigious U.S. Nationals – Beckman was tapped to join the team over the summer.

“Who gets a chance to get resurrected like this?” Beckman says. “Obviously, the circumstances are horrible. Nobody wanted Superman to get hurt, but somebody was going to get the phone call to fill in for John and it was pretty humbling that it was me.”

The JFR team has branded the Force/Beckman pairing “Joint Task Force – Mission Championship.”

Beckman calls himself “gregarious,” a fitting description for one of the most likable and outgoing drivers on the tour. Yet he is also a fierce competitor whose goal is to score points in every qualifying session, win rounds in every event, and hoist the Wally trophy at the end of the day. It’s a tall order – especially for someone who hasn’t raced competitively in almost four years. He’s also up against his young teammate Austin Prock, who has won seven events through early October and has a firm grasp on the points lead.

But in mid-September at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pennsylvania, Beckman advanced to the final round against Prock in only his third outing of the year. He then won at WWT Raceway in the St. Louis area just two weeks later.

“Austin and [father and crew chief] Jimmy Prock have got the baddest car in Funny Car, what they've done this year has been amazing,” Beckman says. “That kid has got the best reaction times and that car has consistently been the quickest car, and I sincerely think we're going to challenge them for the championship.”

Beckman is a 36-time national event winner, is licensed in 12 different categories and won the 2003 Super Comp crown before his Funny Car title in 2012. He’s also a longtime instructor at the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School. There was perhaps not a more decorated or capable driver available for the Force team. As an Air Force veteran and cancer survivor, he is used to overcoming challenges.

Despite being on-track rivals for years, Beckman also has a long relationship with JFR and the Force family. In fact, as an instructor, he licensed team president and Funny Car driver Robert Hight, John Force’s daughters Ashley and Courtney, and Force’s wife, Laurie.

“Even while I was competing against them, I always had history with them,” he says.

Beckman refers to drag racing as a community and all the teams as families. He has adapted to his new family quickly. In addition to his history with the Forces, he has worked with several crew members on his new team, including co-crew chief Chris Cunningham, who calls the shots along with Danny Hood and Tim Fabrisi.

Beckman knew he was stepping into one of the strongest cars on the tour that had already won two races in 2024 with Force at the controls. However, Beckman notes that with his arrival the team had to disregard most of its accumulated data. His and Force’s driving styles differ drastically and there is a weight difference, among dozens of other factors.

Beckman is a quick learner though, which is also likely why he has had such a successful career as a teacher. Once he became acclimated with JFR’s procedures he went home and practiced.

“I put my helmet on, I sat on the couch, I squeezed that brake handle in my mind, I held that steering wheel in my mind, and driving the car wasn't much different than I remembered it being,” Beckman says.

He also has received encouragement from Force and tips from Hight and Prock about how to manipulate the car’s throttle position to his advantage.

Still, Beckman is open about the fact it took him a bit to get reacclimated to the 11,000-horsepower monsters that traverse 1,000 feet in under four seconds, reaching speeds greater than 330 mph.

“The hardest thing by far was getting strapped in that car the first time at Norwalk [during the exhibition Night Under Fire event at Summit Motorsports Park in August],” Beckman says. “I literally thought, ‘I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do this.’ I had already gone back to Indy for the fitting and we were just going to get my license renewed at Norwalk and run that Night Under Fire event. This was on the jackstands in the pits with no body on the car. It wasn't like I was afraid to drive the car, it was just getting strapped in and squeezed so tight. I didn't miss that one bit. Now, I'm looking forward to it.”

After having spent the vast majority of his career driving for other manufacturers, getting acclimated to the Camaro body posed another new challenge. But being a part of Team Chevy has personal significance for Beckman.

“My dad is finally talking to me again,” he jokes. ”My dad has been a Chevy man his whole life. His oldest brother, who actually died in World War II when my dad was 7, hooked my dad on Chevys. My dad hooked my brother Ted and I on Chevys, we've always been Chevy people.”

Beckman still has his first car, a 1968 Chevrolet El Camino SS powered by a 396 cubic-inch engine. He took his driving test in the car and his son Jason did the same when he was 16. The El Camino has undergone a frame-off restoration and Beckman took it down the track three times at the now-shuttered Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, California. On a 96-degree day, the 4100-pound car made a pass at 12.99 seconds.

But Beckman’s goal with the car was really to build a cruiser he could take to car shows around his part of the country, which has a long history of hot rodding. The National Hot Rod Association was even founded in the region. After three years, he got the car where he wanted it using his own hands.

At the track, Beckman also enjoys banter with fans and fellow performance enthusiasts about driving for the Bowtie.

“It's so cool how the fans still have brand loyalty,” Beckman says. “‘I’ve gotten some pushback from people about driving a Chevy, but I got teased by the Chevy people when I was driving [for another manufacturer]. I love that because people can have a brand that they love and root for that brand. My goal for the folks that aren't Team Chevy people is to let them know that Jack Beckman is still Jack Beckman. You can root for me and Chevys are pretty cool.”

It’s unclear what the future holds for Beckman after this season. He maintains his elevator repair job, while also focusing on trying to win an NHRA title. It’s a task on which he has been laser-focused during the second half of 2024.

“My job is to drive my butt off and get this thing in the Winner’s Circle,” he says. “And then rinse and repeat.”

So far, so good. 

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