NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Jack Beckman led the Funny Car category during the second and final day of testing for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. Tony Schumacher improved upon his time from Wednesday to lead Top Fuel. 

Beckman, the 2015 event winner, ran a time of 3.827 seconds at 337.07 mph in his first run of the day. Beckman has two wins, two runner-up finishes on the season, and is using the test to prepare his Infinite Hero Foundation Charger R/T for the coming event. 

“I think if you go to a test session and your car goes to the finish line under power on every run, you’re not pushing the envelope enough,” Beckman said. The whole point of a test session isn’t to just go and make laps, it’s not practice. It’s trying things you think might work and they don’t all work.” 

Robert Hight in his Auto Club of Southern California Chevy Camaro had the second best lap during the session with a run of 3.842 at 330.88. He has three wins at ‘The Big Go’, his last coming in 2013. His win total ties him for fourth on the all-time Funny Car event win list and one more would put him into a tie with his boss John Force and legendary racer Don Prudhomme. Hight and his team had consistent runs during the day and will bring favorable tune-up into the race. 

“We’ve made about seven runs and all of them have been in the 3.80’s,” Hight stated. “We failed to go one time but we were trying some crazy stuff. I wish Indy started tomorrow. It’s a big week and I can’t wait.”

In Top Fuel Tony Schumacher again led the field with his time of 3.702 at 332.34 in his U.S. Army dragster. Antron Brown was in second at 3.722 at 330.72. 

Top Fuel 
1. Tony Schumacher: 3.702, 332.34
2. Antron Brown: 3.722, 330.72
3. Billy Torrence: 3.775, 292.08
4. Shawn Langdon: 3.817, 259.41
5. Wayne Newby: 3.840, 306309.91
6. Ashley Sanford: 3.848, 302.48
7. Troy Coughlin Jr.: 3.882, 258.07
8. Brittany Force: 4.599, 163.12

Funny Car
1. Jack Beckman: 3.827, 337.07
2. Robert Hight: 3.842, 330.88
3. Ron Capps: 3.863, 330.72
4. Tommy Johnson Jr.: 3.864, 311.63
5. Courtney Force: 3.868, 332.18
6. John Force: 3.868, 292.14
7. J.R. Todd: 3.899, 308.71
8. Johnnie Lindberg: 3.935, 296.63
9. Alexis DeJoria: 3.946, 286.13
10. Cruz Pedregon: 4.761, 167.18

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series teams that participated in the test were all preparing for the world’s biggest drag race, the 63rd annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, Aug. 30-Sept. 4, unleashing the thrilling, 10,000-horsepower action of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

FOX national broadcast and FS1 will televise coverage of the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, starting with qualifying on Sunday, Sept. 3 on FS1 at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. EST. The broadcasts continue on FS1 with two hours of live coverage of eliminations on Monday, Sept. 4 starting at 11 a.m. EST, continuing live on FOX at 1 p.m. EST.

Tickets for the world’s most prestigious drag race can be purchased by calling the NHRA Ticket Sales Center at (800) 884-NHRA (6472), or online at www.NHRA.com/tickets. Kids 12 and under are free in general admission areas with a paid adult. To honor the Salute to First Responders, military and first responders can save 20 percent on general admission tickets at the gate.