Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) wheelman Jack Beckman earned his third win of the 2020 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Drag Racing Series season at 35^th annual AAA Texas FallNationals over Funny Car points leader Matt Hagan in an all-Dodge final. The win by Beckman extends his team’s undefeated streak to a NHRA record 12 consecutive Funny Car victories which DSR has maintained since last year’s event at Texas Motorplex.

Beckman made his way to the final elimination round by defeating Cruz Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca. He scored his first-ever victory at the Dallas track earning a Wally trophy, the 33rd of his career, and the track’s signature cowboy hat with a 0.070-second reaction time and 3.908 second pass at 328.46 mph to out run Hagan’s 0.069-sec. start and 3.943 sec./324.20 mph effort.

“Fast Jack” Beckman was on his mark at NHRA Dallas and the Funny Car portion of the DSR team kept their amazing undefeated NHRA season intact.

“Maybe the best weekend ever,” said Beckman. “I mean doubling up at Indy in 2015 is going to be awfully hard to exceed, but I so wanted to win at Dallas. My dad (Bob Beckman) lives close to here and he’s been supporting me my whole career and he’s 83-years-old. That might have been my last shot at Dallas and it’s going to be extra special to give him that cowboy hat from the (Texas) Motorplex. It’s perfect. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a better weekend at a drag strip than this.”

With just two national events remaining to determine a Funny Car world champion, the victory keeps the Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driver within four markers of the category leader Hagan and also keeps fans guessing as to which of the four DSR drivers might take the crown as Tommy Johnson Jr. and Ron Capps also remain in the mix.

From his No. 1 seeded position on the eliminations ladder, Hagan drove his special edition Pennzoil paint scheme Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat through eliminations with wins over Todd Simpson, J.R. Todd and teammate Capps to advance to his fourth final round appearance of the year. Despite the loss to Beckman, Hagan’s runner-up finishes in back-to back events have helped him maintain the points lead.

Posted by Pat Caporali

Event Essentials:  AAA Texas Fall Nationals  (Oct 18-20, 2020) 

Bob Tasca III – went to the “final four” at Dallas. He also sits currently tied for 4th in NHRA World Championship points.

Matt Hagan’s strong event at Dallas helped him maintain the overall FC points lead. He set low ET at 3.860 secs and had a R/UP placing.

JR Todd was the fastest of the race in FC with a blistering 331.36 mph terminal speed in the DHL Toyota.

Photos courtesy of Mopar/Dodge SRT and Randy Anderson

View additional Funny Car racing photos at our LMLCMedia event photo gallery:  HERE