Jack Beckman capped off an amazing weekend for Mopar Dodge//SRT drivers by winning from the pole position during the 49th Annual Amalie Oil Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

Jack collected his 27th career victory when he defeated teammate Matt Hagan in another all-Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car final round in NHRA drag racing.

Beckman’s victory was the second this year, as well as the second from the No. 1 spot. Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Mopar Dodge Funny Car pilots also claimed three of four spots in the semifinals, and own the top two spots in the Funny Car standings, as well as three of the top four positions.

Jack Beckman’s collected his 27th career NHRA title during the NHRA’s Amalie Oil Gatornationals.

En route to his first victory at historic Gainesville Raceway, Beckman got down the track to make eight solid runs in his Infinite Hero Dodge Charger R/T during qualifying and eliminations, including a 3.911-second elapsed time to claim the No. 1 spot.

He kicked off eliminations by leaving first and leading all the way against fellow Dodge driver and No. 16 qualifier Jim Campbell. In round two, Beckman’s 3.973-second run at 318.54 mph helped him quickly overcome a slight starting line advantage by opponent Del Worsham. Beckman was slower in the semfiinals but his 4.478-second pass was enough to hold off Shawn Landon, who smoked the tires.

Matt Hagan had another strong event – placing runner-up in the DSR Mopar Dodge Charger

The all-DSR Mopar Dodge battle between Beckman and Hagan was a thriller, with Beckman off the line first but with Hagan closing the gap. In the end, Beckman was able to hold off the hard-charging Hagan, taking the holeshot win with a quicker .051 reaction time paired with a 4.035/323.58 pass to his teammate’s slower .062 reaction time and 4.034/322.04 mark. His performance this weekend also moved Beckman into the second spot in the point standings.

Hagan’s run to the final round in his Mopar Express Lane Dodge included a first-round win over Tim Wilkerson and then a wild, fiery ride against Robert Hight in the quarterfinals. Hight’s engine exploded near the 660-ft mark, with his Funny Car body flying apart. As Hagan raced by in the right lane his engine did the same, sending the car body flying high in the air, but Hagan was able to cross the line at 4.027/291.26 to earn a hard-fought round win.

The Mopar Express Lane Dodge team and crew chief Dickie Venables thrashed and dug deep to get a backup car ready for Hagan to face DSR teammate and Mopar-powered Dodge Charger R/T driver Ron Capps in the semifinals. The hard work paid off as Hagan, the Funny Car points leader, posted a solid 4.056/310.91 to advance to his 49th career final round and reach a remarkable milestone, his 500th career round of racing.

FC class racing at Gainesville was eventful to say the least.  Legendary John Force also had yet another major explosion during his apparent “snakebite” season so far. He destroyed the body of his special edition Peak-sponsored Chevy Camaro during the second qualifying session and that incident seemed to disrupt his usual event pace —  in the end his was only a #15 qualifier and also a first round loser on Sunday.

John Force ran this great looking special edition car at Gainesville but then blew it to smithereens during Friday’s 2nd session

Event Essentials:   NHRA Amalie Oil Gatornationals (March 15-18th, 2018) 

Robert Hight set both low ET and top speed of the event at 3.894 secs and 333.66 mph

World Champ Ron Capps had a strong “final four” placement in the DSR Napa-sponsored Dodge.

Independent racer Dave Richards made his season debut and ran a steady looking 4.133 secs to qualify #14 nicely in his Ford Mustang.

“Big Jim” Dunn’s team with driver Jim Campbell showed at G-Ville with an updated new 2017 Dodge Charger body for their 7-Eleven backed entry

Posted with files by Darren Jacobs and Bruce Biegler

Photos by Bruce Biegler & Tracy Waters

To view additional Funny Car class images from NHRA Gainesville link to our event photo gallery:  HERE