Jack Beckman Keeps John Force in NHRA Title Picture with Points at Brainerd

• As strange as it might seem, 2012 NHRA Funny Car champion Jack Beckman could actually hand John Force a championship this season.

• According to NHRA rules, when a driver is unable to compete (Force is out for the rest of the season nursing a traumatic brain injury), the race team may bring in a substitute who can earn points for the original driver.

• There are seven races remaining in the 2024 season, and Beckman (Force) is currently fifth in the standings.

Making his first start on behalf of injured 16-time Funny Car champion John Force, Jack Beckman—the 2012 Funny Car champion and sportsman-level national titlist himself – picked up a few points for the PEAK Chavy Camaro team at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.

And, yes, per what some say might be a controversial NHRA rule, Beckman could actually win an NHRA championship for Force—a championship that would be No. 17 for the sport's all-time wins leader.

According to NHRA rules, when a driver is unable to compete, the race team may bring in a substitute who can earn points for the original driver in a maximum of eight tour events. Beckman began his eight-event run in the JFR PEAK Antifreeze Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car this past weekend in Brainerd.

Beckman won his Round 1 race, ironically, against Bobby Bode to record his first elimination victory since his Oct. 19, 2020, event triumph at Dallas. In 2010, when Bobby Bode was eight years old, his father, Bob Bode earned his lone Funny Car victory at Brainerd—at Beckman’s expense. The win, coupled with Ron Capps' first-round defeat, meant that Force leapfrogged Capps into fifth place in the standings.

Beckman exited in the quarterfinals, losing to eventual winner Blake Alexander.

He’ll close out the final seven races of the year as a substitute for Force, who continues to recover at home in Southern California from a vicious racing accident this June near Richmond, Va.

“It's still John's car. Nobody's replacing John Force,” Beckman said. “I get to shoe this thing for now. We had a great hot rod. It still blew a spark plug out, but that's the best I've run in four years. That's a good feeling.

"John (Force) and I are different. I weigh more than him. We ride the clutch differently, backing up for the burnout. The guys are trying to figure out what the car wants to run quick down low with me, like it did with John. And we're still finding that stuff out," he said. "Every run we get, we're getting closer."

Funny Car Points Standings

1. Austin Prock, 1,190; 2. Bob Tasca III, 972; 3. Matt Hagan, 960; 4. J.R. Todd, 891; 5. John Force, 749; 6. Ron Capps, 738; 7. Blake Alexander, 650; 8. Daniel Wilkerson, 637; 9. Chad Green, 606; 10. Paul Lee, 578.