With the rain gone and the skies blue Don Schumacher Racing pulled off a double in the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Int'l Raceway Monday afternoon.

 First into the winner's circle was Jack Beckman, in the Valvoline MTS Dodge Charger. Beckman was followed by Top Fuel teammate, Cory McClenathan in his Fram dragster.

 This is the 23rd time DSR teams have doubled up in the winner's circle and two of those times were triples. The last time DSR doubled up was last year in the first Vegas race with Ron Capps and Tony Schumacher doing the honors. It is the first time McClenathan and Beckman have been in the Winner's Circle together as team mates.

 These were two runs most thought might never come, at least not in Phoenix. Rain greeted the morning. Once the rain stopped, all efforts turned to prepping the track. Those efforts were for naught as another soaking rain shower doused the desert facility once again. By noon, two hours after the scheduled start time, the rain finally relented and track prepping resumed.

 By 2:45 pm the track was ready and so too were the drivers. The cars were in the staging lanes, the loudspeakers burst to life in the ears of the nearly 100 fans in the stands. It was time to settle some scores.

Beckman rocketed of the line a scant four thousands of a second slower than his opponent, John Force - .088 to .084. By the 330' mark Beckman was a half second ahead of Force and the Castrol Ford Mustang struck the tires just past the 60' mark. At the finish line Beckman's 4.121 at 301.13 miles per hour was more than enough to take the win from Force. Force struggled to a 6.316 at 106.24 miles per hour.

 “We've had a lot of luck against John Force and I don't care what you say that guy is still the man in nitro Funny Car racing,” said Beckman after doing his obligatory ESPN interviews. “The fan in me is so happy to see him back in top form. The racer in me was glad they weren't perfect in the final against us.

 “I'm glad we had the delay. It didn't hurt our chances. I don't think last night we had a car that could run with Force.”

 Beckman clearly didn't let the empty grandstands dampen his feelings about winning.

“I've always wondered what it would be like to win a race without all that stuff, because I always thought the lure of a national event was to race in front of a lot of fans in the grandstands. Yet, the trophy still looked pretty shiny to me at the end of the track. And, to get to win with Cory and with what happened this weekend to get Don two trophies, is nice. It's been a painful weekend for a lot of people and we're trying to temper the highs right now.”

 In the second run of the day, Cory McClenathan, running the same lane Force struggled to get down, powered down the track while Doug Kalitta struggled in the left lane. Kalitta was hot at the line, .082 to .115, but was losing ground quickly by the 60's mark.

 At the stripe, McClenathan's 3.813 second, 316.67 mile per hour pass was just too much for Kalitta, who ran a 4.736 at 219.47 mph.

“We didn't take Doug seriously when we raced them in the semis there in Pomona and this time we took him seriously, obviously running a 3.881 at 317, in what is a green track after the rain,” said McClenathan.”

McClenathan is now the point leader, 201-196, over Doug Kalitta. Kalitta has appeared in both final rounds to start the 2010 season.

“To get an early win and to get your stride going this early in the season is really good for us,” said McClenathan. “That thing has just become a bracket car right now and we know they have to step it up to beat us and that's a big deal for us.

 Force, who currently leads the Funny Car point standings over Beckman, 224 – 187, took his loss in stride.

 “I am not disappointed. I am ready to move onto Gainesville,” said Force. “At the end of the day we have been in the finals of the first two races and won one of them. Sure we would like to win them all.”

 One thing pleasing to Force was getting the race finished.

 “Without a doubt,” said Force when asked if NHRA made the right decision. “I wish we could have finished it last night. They had to make the call (based on) the conditions on the track. We just didn’t get it. Let’s get over it and move onto Gainesville.”