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INAUGURAL EVENT WINNER BECKMAN TARGETS REPEAT IN CONCORD GOING FOUR-WIDE

NORCO, Calif. (March 24, 2010) - Jack Beckman will never lose the status of being the inaugural NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion at the zMax Dragway. He did that in 2008. What he'd like to add to his resume is another victory at this Concord, N.C., facility, racing against three other competitors at the same time in this weekend's Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

"We won the inaugural, so let's just win the inaugural four-wide," said the driver of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger, with a cautious laugh. "I think this is going to be one of the coolest things ever for the fans and one of the bigger nightmares for the teams in NHRA.

'We've never had an official drag race where there wasn't one winner and one loser. Now you have two winners and two losers and then in the final round you're going to label them first, second, third and fourth. And that's never happened at an official drag race before. So, I think stats-wise it's going to be a nightmare, so we'd just as soon keep it simple and win this thing.

"We still aren't 100 percent sure how they're going to handle the Christmas tree and the starting system. I know they've been soliciting a lot of opinions from the drivers. We're going to have a drivers' meeting on Friday when we get there, and I think it's going to be a learning curve for all of us.

"I tell you this, I bet there's going to be a lot of Funny Car drivers up on the starting line watching Pro Stock Motorcycles and Pro Stock cars in the first qualifying session (in advance of the nitro cars) just to get the tempo of this staging procedure and what the lights are going to look like for all the lanes.

“It’s definitely going to be exciting and challenging for everyone involved - the fans, the drivers and the crew chiefs - without a doubt.”

Beckman defeated Cruz Pedregon in the final round at zMax Dragway in 2008.

Mail Terminal Services will continue to send boxes of post cards of support and encouragement, along with hand-out cards of DSR drivers, National Dragster and Drag Racing Action magazines to soldiers overseas. This year the program expands the opportunity to participate beyond just the NHRA fans and are including schools and service organizations. If a school or organization would like to write post cards of encouragement to the U.S. troops, the request should be sent to mts.mfh@gmail.com. MTS will be pleased to send post cards for the project and signed handout cards from Funny Car driver Jack Beckman and a Certificate of Service for the school or organization.

To find out more about Mail Terminal Services go to www.mailterminals.com http://www.mailterminals.com/

BECKMAN COMMENTS ON FOUR-WIDE RACING IN CONCORD

CONCORD, N.C. (March 26, 2010) - After two qualifying sessions for the Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Jack Beckman, driving the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car, sits No. 3, having posted a 4.040/310.48 in the second round. His first attempt produced a 4.103/304.25.

"Hoo-wee," he said of racing four-wide for the first time. "For all that we've griped about it, and I'm still not a fan of doing it in a points race, all I have to say is that at the top end of the race track we are all chatting like 12-year-old schoolgirls up there. Everybody is having a blast with this thing.

"It's like bragging about who caught what when you went fishing. Everybody compares notes at the end of the track, and I've never seen that when it's two cars racing, to this extent. We're having fun right now.

"Sunday might be a whole different deal."

Two more rounds of qualifying on Saturday will set the 16-car field for Sunday's eliminations.

BECKMAN BAGS NO. 3 IN CONCORD FOUR-WIDE QUALIFYING

CONCORD, N.C. (March 27, 2010) - "Fast" Jack Beckman bagged the No. 3 spot in qualifying for the Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway after recording a career-best 4.040-second run at 310.48 mph in the second session on Friday night.

His final two passes in the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car today produced a 7.757/85.56 and a 4.080/313.66 (career-best speed). His initial lap on Friday was a 4.103/304.25.

"Two solid runs to start," he said. "We missed it in the third session, and I've never seen so many good crew chiefs miss it. Only two out of 16 cars even went down the track.

"Then to come back in the last session, where we were second low of the session with my best 1000-foot speed by almost three miles an hour, was fantastic.

"The nice thing right now is it looks like what we're asking the car to do it's doing. And, remember, we still have fewer than 35 runs as a team with this car and this tune-up. And Ed McCulloch, crew chief on the NAPA car, has given us some of his data. We tried to implement that into our tune-up philosophy and it looks like all that's working great right now.

"We'll have first lane choice tomorrow, which may or may not be an issue. We're poised to win this," added Beckman, the winner of the inaugural event here in 2008. "We just have to go three rounds tomorrow. It's going to be a perfect day for us."

Beckman faces Bob Tasca III, John Force and Tony Pedregon in the opening round of four-wide eliminations on Sunday.

BECKMAN MAKES IT THROUGH ONE ROUND OF FOUR-WIDE RACING IN CONCORD

CONCORD, N.C. (March 28, 2010) - Jack Beckman, driving the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car, advanced into the second round of three in eliminations at the Inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, posting a 4.068-second elapsed time at 312.06 mph. He outran second-place John Force by 20 inches at the finish line, as both Force and Beckman advanced into the second round. Bob Tasca III and Tony Pedregon were sent home.

Under cool and nearly ideal conditions, Beckman was then dismissed in the next stanza by his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps and John Force with a tire-hazing 4.505/199.73. Both Capps and Force moved into the final round to face Matt Hagan and Ashley Force Hood.

"I have got the fastest race car I've had relative to the other hot cars since 2007," said Beckman who leaves this historic event either third or fourth in the point standings (depending on Monday’s outcome). "I've had a great race car every year I've driven for Don Schumacher, but we're now as quick as anybody out there.

"That's what happens. When you are running this quick with the conditions that are almost optimal, and you know they're optimal for the other cars too, and you know you're running three other cars, there's no such thing as a safe tune-up. You've got to take these cars up there on one of those kill runs, almost like a national-record run, and at that point it becomes really critical.

"You have got to keep it in the groove, and I think I let the left tire get out of the groove to the point where we just overpowered our lane. It's a shame because I think our early numbers show we would have run a 4.06 also (to match both Capps' and Force's 4.064s), and we would have probably just barely been second on that run, but that's all right.

"We're done with four-wide racing and we'll go to Houston. I can't wait. I can't tell you how exciting it is to know how great a race car and team you've got. We knew that after we won Phoenix, and now our car is as fast as anybody else's."

Next up is the 23rd annual NHRA Spring Nationals in Houston, Texas, April 9-11.