BECKMAN'S RARE OPPORTUNITY
Mon, 2008-08-18 15:28
Rarely does a student get to match skill against their teacher.
During the Funny Car final round at the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa., Frank Hawley learned just how good of an instructor he is. Beyond that, he found out just how good of an instructor he’s got on staff at his Frank Hawley Drag Racing School.
Jack Beckman was merely basking in the glow of the opportunity to race his mentor.
"Imagine being a Little League player and you get to pitch against Mickey Mantle,” Beckman said. “Frank Hawley has been all of that to the sport. To have him come back in adds a whole other dimension to this...and, hell no, I wasn't going to cut him any slack.” Rarely does a student get to match skill against their teacher.
During the Funny Car final round at the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa., Frank Hawley learned just how good of an instructor he is. Beyond that, he found out just how good of an instructor he’s got on staff at his Frank Hawley Drag Racing School.
Jack Beckman was merely basking in the glow of the opportunity to race his mentor.
"Imagine being a Little League player and you get to pitch against Mickey Mantle,” Beckman said. “Frank Hawley has been all of that to the sport. To have him come back in adds a whole other dimension to this...and, hell no, I wasn't going to cut him any slack.”
Beckman didn’t for a variety of reasons. He wanted to win in order to secure a Countdown to the Championship seeding and importantly to redeem himself from a red-light loss from the previous event in Brainerd, Minn.
"It's nice to be able to redeem yourself in a seven-day period." said Beckman, who debuted for Don Schumacher Racing here in Reading in 2006.
"Obviously, I let the team down (in Brainerd). We did have the best car last week. I screwed up. We had a great car this weekend and it was nice to get a chance to get back in the final, wait for the green light before I stepped on the throttle and get that win.”
Adding to the elation was the fact Beckman qualified for the championship battle scheduled to begin in Charlotte in less than a month and last for six races. He clinched a spot in the top ten with this monumental victory.
The Reading final round represented the ninth of his career and the fifth victory of his short pro NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series career.
En route to the final round, the No. 13 qualifier defeated Funny Car points leader Tim Wilkerson (4.219/296.31), 14-time Funny Car champion John Force (4.185/290.51) and Cruz Pedregon (4.183/291.57).
TEACHING THE TEACHER – Beckman will quickly tell anyone who will listen just how tough the Funny Car competition has
been in 2008. Adding a seasoned veteran such as Hawley to the mix only compounds the complexity.
"Like the last thing we needed was another tough Funny Car,” said Beckman. “I was so happy for him when he won his rounds and he was happy for me all the way up to the final round, so that was cool. It was just a fairy tale weekend, it really was."
Of course the teacher in Hawley inspired him to discuss the previous weekend’s experience before the final round.
"It's funny. Hawley comes up to me before the final and says, 'Jack I want you to completely get out of your mind what happened last weekend. Don't even think about that.'
“The final with Jack was a lot of fun,” added Hawley. “Over the years we have developed a personal, aside from a business, relationship. I said in the semifinals I don’t like to lose to anybody, but if I lose to anybody, I wouldn’t mind losing to Jack.
“But I told Jack after the final that I really didn’t mean that,” Hawley said with a chuckle.
“I said, Frank, we don't teach mind games at the school. We're not supposed to be doing that.”
During the Funny Car final round at the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa., Frank Hawley learned just how good of an instructor he is. Beyond that, he found out just how good of an instructor he’s got on staff at his Frank Hawley Drag Racing School.
Jack Beckman was merely basking in the glow of the opportunity to race his mentor.
"Imagine being a Little League player and you get to pitch against Mickey Mantle,” Beckman said. “Frank Hawley has been all of that to the sport. To have him come back in adds a whole other dimension to this...and, hell no, I wasn't going to cut him any slack.” Rarely does a student get to match skill against their teacher.
During the Funny Car final round at the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa., Frank Hawley learned just how good of an instructor he is. Beyond that, he found out just how good of an instructor he’s got on staff at his Frank Hawley Drag Racing School.
Jack Beckman was merely basking in the glow of the opportunity to race his mentor.
"Imagine being a Little League player and you get to pitch against Mickey Mantle,” Beckman said. “Frank Hawley has been all of that to the sport. To have him come back in adds a whole other dimension to this...and, hell no, I wasn't going to cut him any slack.”
Beckman didn’t for a variety of reasons. He wanted to win in order to secure a Countdown to the Championship seeding and importantly to redeem himself from a red-light loss from the previous event in Brainerd, Minn.
"It's nice to be able to redeem yourself in a seven-day period." said Beckman, who debuted for Don Schumacher Racing here in Reading in 2006.
"Obviously, I let the team down (in Brainerd). We did have the best car last week. I screwed up. We had a great car this weekend and it was nice to get a chance to get back in the final, wait for the green light before I stepped on the throttle and get that win.”
Adding to the elation was the fact Beckman qualified for the championship battle scheduled to begin in Charlotte in less than a month and last for six races. He clinched a spot in the top ten with this monumental victory.
The Reading final round represented the ninth of his career and the fifth victory of his short pro NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series career.
En route to the final round, the No. 13 qualifier defeated Funny Car points leader Tim Wilkerson (4.219/296.31), 14-time Funny Car champion John Force (4.185/290.51) and Cruz Pedregon (4.183/291.57).
TEACHING THE TEACHER – Beckman will quickly tell anyone who will listen just how tough the Funny Car competition has
been in 2008. Adding a seasoned veteran such as Hawley to the mix only compounds the complexity. "Like the last thing we needed was another tough Funny Car,” said Beckman. “I was so happy for him when he won his rounds and he was happy for me all the way up to the final round, so that was cool. It was just a fairy tale weekend, it really was."
Of course the teacher in Hawley inspired him to discuss the previous weekend’s experience before the final round.
"It's funny. Hawley comes up to me before the final and says, 'Jack I want you to completely get out of your mind what happened last weekend. Don't even think about that.'
“The final with Jack was a lot of fun,” added Hawley. “Over the years we have developed a personal, aside from a business, relationship. I said in the semifinals I don’t like to lose to anybody, but if I lose to anybody, I wouldn’t mind losing to Jack.
“But I told Jack after the final that I really didn’t mean that,” Hawley said with a chuckle.
“I said, Frank, we don't teach mind games at the school. We're not supposed to be doing that.”
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