Jack Beckman admits he still has a lot to learn in his quest to become a front-running Funny Car driver. He’s quickly learning that driving 320 miles per hour in a Top Fuel Dragster can be less demanding than a 314 mph blast in a clutch dust-filled Funny Car cockpit.

Beckman knew there would be a difference between the two but never imagined the nuances would be as different as day and night.

Jack Beckman admits he still has a lot to learn in his quest to become a front-running Funny Car driver. He’s quickly learning that driving 320 miles per hour in a Top Fuel Dragster can be less demanding than a 314 mph blast in a clutch dust-filled Funny Car cockpit.

Beckman knew there would be a difference between the two but never imagined the nuances would be as different as day and night.

“They both haul,” Beckman said. “They have the same motor but a different tune-up program. With the wheelbase of the Funny Car you can’t get after it as quickly as you can a Dragster. The Funny Car picks up more on the back half because of the aerodynamics.

“They are both impressive but anything that moves that hard from 200 to 900-foot is amazing. In the Dodge Charger I am driving you feel as if you’re sitting in the trunk and you have half of the window taped up.”

Every run down the track in the Matco Tools Funny Car presents a unique experience for Beckman.

“You know the interested thing is when I ran a sportsman car, I would strap myself in and I had a thin firesuit. The cockpit is a bit larger with the sportsman car. When you strap in the Funny Car, it is like you have a huge cocoon around you. When you’re in there it is almost like an insulated feeling. You feel really protected and you tend to not think about the things that can go wrong. You just have to do the same thing every time the same way.”