Jack Beckman competed in his first National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel race at Las Vegas in 2005.
 
He has won in Funny Car once in two fall final-round appearances since 2006 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
 
He returned there as a new daddy in 2007.
 
During his pro-ranks tenure, Beckman has visited the military hospital at Nellis Air Force Base, ridden with the USAF Thunderbirds, participated in a handful of autograph sessions at various casinos, and has bowled and played poker for Speedway Children's Charities.

Jack Beckman competed in his first National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel race at Las Vegas in 2005.

He has won in Funny Car once in two fall final-round appearances since 2006 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
 
He returned there as a new daddy in 2007.
 
During his pro-ranks tenure, Beckman has visited the military hospital at Nellis Air Force Base, ridden with the USAF Thunderbirds, participated in a handful of autograph sessions at various casinos, and has bowled and played poker for Speedway Children's Charities.
 
But this time, as he approaches this weekend's SummitRacing.com Nationals, the driver of the Don Schumacher-owned Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car has two goals. They are, he said, to "get back on that horse right now" after a disruption in his early-season momentum and to "and get back deep into Sunday's eliminations program."
 
With a victory at this year's Phoenix event in hand, Beckman (who's fifth in the standings), said he wants "to get a better handle on what could be a warm race track with some new parts."
 
His Rahn Tobler-led crew will be partnering with teammate Ron Capps' NAPA Auto Parts team and his crew chief, Ace McCulloch. That means eight qualifying passes between the two cars, weather permitting -- and the forecast looks spectacular with sunshine and temperatures in the mid-80s. So with data on his new parts from eight qualifying runs, Beckman will have something to work with on race day.
 
"We typically do have ideal conditions in Vegas," Beckman said. "And here's where you can get out that home-run bat again and take a swing with it.And typically the track is consistently good all four runs on race day. The wrench that can be thrown into the works is that the weather in Vegas can change so radically over the course of a week or even a day. We're not even sure if we're going to have a cold or a hot race track."
 
Odds are favorable for a warm track, and, Beckman said, "We know we need to step into that direction as we get into the warm-weather race tracks."
 
Naturally, he's bothered by the fact that he began the season with a semifinal finish and victory, then hasn't generated much excitement after the Phoenix triumph.
 
At Gainesville, he struck the tires and lost in the opening round to Bob Tasca II, who had lane choice.
 
"Now I have to walk the walk," Beckman said then. "I've been saying that, with this Valvoline/MTS team, we've got the attitude and we've got the chemistry and I think everybody can be a good winner. I think the mark of the team that's going to win this deal this year is the one that can lose and keep the right attitude and go into the next race and do well again."
 
The next race was the Four-Wide Nationals at Concord, N.C., and Beckman knew beforehand that it was "going to be an odd one. It's a four-wide, three-ring-circus type of environment." It turned out not to be the place where Beckman would regain his momentum.
 
Neither was Houston, where he exited in the first round again but expressed suspicion about the role that track prep might have played there.
 
"I'm not so sure they weren't doing different things with the Houston track preparation," Beckman said. "In all of Sunday's eliminations in the nitro categories, there are 60 passes (among) the dragsters and the Funny Cars. I cannot remember a race in all my years of going to races where I've seen so many of those 60 runs be tire-smoking passes."
 
But Beckman wasn't making excuses. As the Las Vegas weekend neared, he reiterated, "Here's where I want to live up to what we've talked about.
 
"We go to the semifinals and get a win in the first two races. We performed well in the four-wide race in Concord, N.C. - but I almost think of that as more of a distraction on the tour, because that race will never happen again this year - and then we go to Houston and we cannot find a handle on our race car."
 
He said he understands that "it's OK to stumble a couple of times. It's going to happen to every nitro team out there. And with the Countdown format it's not nearly as critical as it was years ago in the early part of the season.
 
"But when you realize why we do our jobs -- that thrill of competition, setting the standard high, getting the trophy, representing our sponsors real well -- all that dictates is that on Sunday we need to be around late in the day," Beckman said. "And that's our goal again."