By John Sturbin | Raceday San Antonio
ENNIS – Jack Beckman’s fascination with the Texas Motorplex was launched long before he became “Fast Jack” and an NHRA Nitro Funny Car world champion.
The 39-time “Flopper” winner was a drag racing fan serving in the Air Force in Clovis, N.M., when he and a buddy drove 500 miles (one-way) to attend the inaugural NHRA national event here in 1986.
“My dad (Bob) was living in the Dallas area,” Beckman recalled in the track’s Media Center Friday evening. “We stayed with him and watched Don Garlits beat Darrell Gwynn in the final at what was the most awesome facility on the planet back then. Think about this for a second…I’m a spectator and we made a 1,000-mile roundtrip to see this race. It was magical.”
Fast forward to when Beckman first raced on the Motorplex’s acclaimed all-concrete surface in 1998 as a Sportsman driver in Super Comp, competed in Top Fuel in 2005 and made his Nitro Funny Car debut in ‘06. Jack’s championship season in 2012 was scored without a victory at Hall of Famer Billy Meyer’s facility _ a nagging fact Beckman aims to update Sunday after conclusion of the 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals.
Currently fourth in the Countdown to the Championship point-standings led by Matt Hagan, Beckman secured the provisional pole during Round 2 of qualifications with a 1,000-foot pass in 3.852-seconds at 330.13 mph in his 12,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet SS for John Force Racing. Beckman will seek to nail down his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season on Saturday.
Beckman’s lap withstood a last-round pairing featuring Hagan, a four-time Funny Car world champion (2011, 2014, 2020, 2023) who posted numbers of 3.855-seconds at 334.80 mph to place second. Two-time Funny Car world champ Cruz Pedregon sits third after his best run of 3.855 at 323.83.
Jack’s victory in the “Battle of the Saddle” as low qualifier was worth a $15,000 bonus, and another $1,000 from Jeg’s…as well as three valuable points. Hagan, driver of the Direct Connection Dodge/SRT Hellcat fielded by Tony Stewart Racing, began the weekend with a 72-point lead over Funny Car rookie Jordan Vandergriff and the Cornwell Tools Chevy SS of JFR, a 106-point advantage over two-time/reigning Funny Car world champion Austin Prock in the Ford Mustang Dark Horse fielded by Bob Tasca Racing and 123 over Beckman.
Prock, who won his titles in 2024 and 2025 driving JFR’s Cornwell Tools Chevy, picked up his first win in Ennis last year before rolling to his second consecutive Funny Car crown. On Friday, Prock & Co. failed to complete either of their two attempts, overpowering the track on both runs.
This weekend’s race is the 18th on the Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule and fourth of six in the Countdown, meaning every round looms as a real-time/pop-quiz for the contenders.
“People talk about giving it 110 percent but that’s not mathematically possible,” said Beckman, a 60-year-old resident of Corona, Calif. “This is a mental exercise and I try to do the best I can do, whether it’s qualifying or the final round, and I’m gonna continue to do that.
“Sometimes the breaks just don’t go your way so we need Hagan to go out early at one or two races, which is very possible. We’re painted into a corner right now because it’s not just our excellence that’s going to be needed for the championship. We have to rely on Hagan going out early a couple of times.”
Professional qualifying will continue Saturday with rounds scheduled for noon and 2:30 p.m. “It’ll be good conditions. It won’t be like this,” Beckman said. “I always have to remind myself these (JFR crew) guys don’t miss it (track setup) two times in a row. Well, we missed it on Q1 and I really felt we could have run 3.84 in Q1 and we didn’t.
“We were sixth pair (Round 2), and there’s 10 pairs here with a huge Funny Car turnout. So we ran well, but then we’ve got to watch eight quality cars behind us, any one of which could have exceeded our run, and Hagan came closest, but nobody exceeded us.
“We were pushing hard. I could feel it, but I had my hands full. The car started going right, and when you’re pushing that hard, any steering input is detrimental to performance and too much steering input is going to upset the rear tires. So I moved it back into the groove. I thought I did a reasonable job, straightened it out and started going to the right again.”
Beckman said any perceived “fascination” associated with The Plex began long before he was that 20-year-old airman who talked his buddy, Lee West, into hitting the highway in his Chevette to someplace called Ennis, Texas. “I have a fascination with this sport since I was 7, loved everything about it,” Beckman said. “Every racetrack I’d been to didn’t look like this. My first race was Orange County (Calif.) _ beautiful racetrack but it wasn’t like this.”
Beckman said the Motorplex seemed to rise out of the vast Texas countryside some 41 years ago. “I don’t know if it’s accurate to call it the first ‘Super-Track,^” Jack said, “but it was the first stadium-style tower laid out the way it was when my friend and I drove up. We drove down that small highway and you were out in the middle of nowhere.
“And then I see this electronic scoreboard that says, ‘Darrell Gwynn, New National Record.” I couldn’t get out of the car and run and buy my ticket fast enough. There have been a lot of tracks patterned after it. There are newer tracks. There are bigger tracks. There are tracks that tick more boxes now but there’s only one ‘first’ and the Texas Motorplex set the standard.
“So it’s fair to say I’ve got a ‘fascination’ with the Motorplex. There’s Pomona (Calif)., Winternationals; there’s Pomona, The Final; there’s Indy (The Big GO!) and for me the Motorplex has always been on that Mount Rushmore of races I wanted to win and I didn’t close the deal until 2020. And 2020 was literally the last year of my first career in Nitro racing. I had run out of funding by the end of the year and went on the sidelines for nearly four years.
“I thought that was it but, by God, I got one of my dreams. And it was the coolest thing ever. My then 83-year-old dad got the Cowboy hat from the winner’s circle. At 89, he’ll be here (Sunday)…Robert Thomas Beckman.”
ENNIS, Texas — Friday’s results after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the 41st annual Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, 18th of 20 events in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday’s final eliminations.
Top Fuel — 1. Shawn Langdon, 3.648 seconds, 340.39 mph; 2. Tony Stewart, 3.668, 343.70; 3. Doug Kalitta, 3.668, 338.80; 4. Antron Brown, 3.677, 335.32; 5. Leah Pruett, 3.697, 334.20; 6. Maddi Gordon, 3.701, 333.43; 7. Justin Ashley, 3.713, 335.80; 8. Josh Hart, 3.714, 337.64; 9. Will Smith, 3.714, 335.80; 10. Clay Millican, 3.716, 332.45; 11. Billy Torrence, 3.746, 333.95; 12. Shawn Reed, 3.761, 334.70; 13. Dan Mercier, 3.785, 311.55; 14. Tony Schumacher, 3.809, 283.30; 15. Jake Sanders, 3.900, 304.47; 16. Lee Callaway, 4.026, 225.28.
Not Qualified: 17. Charles Loftin, 4.400, 195.58; 18. Cameron Ferre, 4.589, 169.57; 19. Spencer Massey, 6.986, 86.97.
Funny Car — 1. Jack Beckman, Chevy Camaro, 3.852, 330.13; 2. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger, 3.855, 334.80; 3. Cruz Pedregon, Charger, 3.855, 323.83; 4. Alexis DeJoria, Camaro, 3.873, 333.09; 5. J.R. Todd, Toyota GR Supra, 3.874, 337.13; 6. Jordan Vandergriff, Camaro, 3.881, 333.83; 7. Chad Green, Ford Mustang, 3.910, 330.32; 8. Blake Alexander, Toyota Supra, 3.914, 327.92; 9. Paul Lee, Charger, 3.921, 326.80; 10. Spencer Hyde, Mustang, 3.922, 323.93; 11. Dave Richards, Mustang, 3.925, 333.68; 12. Daniel Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.937, 330.35; 13. Ron Capps, GR Supra, 3.960, 319.83; 14. Hunter Green, Charger, 3.985, 321.31; 15. Jeff Arend, Charger, 4.050, 315.99; 16. Chris King, Charger, 4.077, 268.02.
Not Qualified: 17. Jim Campbell, 4.113, 291.58; 18. Austin Prock, 4.201, 218.63; 19. Jeff Diehl, 4.331, 214.65; 20. Terry Haddock, 4.954, 157.63.
Pro Stock — 1. Greg Stanfield, Chevy Camaro, 6.460, 212.80; 2. Troy Coughlin Jr., Camaro, 6.464, 212.74; 3. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.468, 210.51; 4. Dallas Glenn, Camaro, 6.469, 211.56; 5. Aaron Stanfield, Camaro, 6.470, 211.63; 6. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.473, 213.03; 7. Deric Kramer, Camaro, 6.478, 212.42; 8. Erica Enders, Camaro, 6.481, 212.41; 9. Matt Latino, Camaro, 6.481, 212.10; 10. Jeg Coughlin, Camaro, 6.484, 211.83; 11. Shane Tucker, Camaro, 6.502, 213.44; 12. Eric Latino, Camaro, 6.511, 210.24; 13. Chris Vang, Camaro, 6.516, 210.54; 14. Mason McGaha, Camaro, 6.521, 212.30; 15. Stephen Bell, Camaro, 6.527, 210.74; 16. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.539, 211.80.
Not Qualified: 17. Cody Anderson, 6.570, 197.34; 18. Cliff Mayes, 6.753, 206.77; 19. Jerry Tucker, 12.371, 91.34.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Gaige Herrera, Suzuki, 6.676, 202.22; 2. Matt Smith, Buell, 6.709, 201.86; 3. Angie Smith, Buell, 6.725, 202.28; 4. Joey Gladstone, Buell, 6.768, 198.50; 5. Chase Van Sant, Suzuki, 6.790, 198.47; 6. Clayton Howey, Buell, 6.880, 170.62; 7. Marc Ingwersen, EBR, 6.997, 195.09; 8. Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.009, 186.39; 9. Malcolm Phillips Jr., Suzuki, 7.033, 170.07; 10. GT Tonglet, Buell, 7.050, 190.52; 11. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.252, 154.34; 12. Richard Gadson, Suzuki, 7.794, 124.56; 13. Ryan Oehler, EBR, 8.156, 110.72; 14. Chris Bostick, Suzuki, 8.182, 111.79; 15. Hector Arana, EBR, 8.667, 174.53; 16. Blaine Hale, Suzuki, 17.450, 40.42.
Not Qualified: 17. Hector Arana Jr, 64.999, no speed.
