New chassis for Jack Beckman

NHRA Funny Car driver Jack Beckman has been struggling lately. After winning at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix in February, Beckman has dropped to 12th in the Funny Car standings.
When he races at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey this weekend, he will have a new chassis and hopefully a change in results. His team tested the new car at Martin, Mich., and decided to unveil it for the next NHRA races.
"We made five runs in the new car," said Beckman, a driver from North Hills. "It went down the track. We never went past half-track because what we needed to know we would have known early."
The NHRA is mandating all teams use what it calls a safer chassis for the races in Denver for July 11-13. But Beckman's team at Don Schumacher Racing decided to debut it early.
"Our very first run in the new chassis was a planned 400-footer," Beckman said. "It made it to 400 feet and it was quick early, which has kind of been our Achille's heel lately. We needed to be quicker earlier in the run, and so this car showed us that it is definitely quicker earlier. That is exactly what we wanted."
Beckman is 12 points out of 10th place. The top 10 drivers in the Funny Car division will qualify for the Countdown, the six-race playoff to determine champions in the four national touring classes of the NHRA, after the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Aug. 27-Sept. 1.
"Any time that you can put a new car together and very first run out it does what it is supposed to, it brings a big sigh of relief to the crew," Beckman said. "I also think it's the shot in the arm that we need right now. If we can combine the consistency we've had lately with these potentially quicker elapsed times, I think we can get right back into this thing."