How excited was “Fast” Jack Beckman after besting 14-time Funny Car champion John Force in the rain-delayed NHRA Arizona Nationals Funny Car final round?

He was so excited he could hardly stand still.

Paul Page, off to the side doing his stand-up introductions for ESPN, was interrupted more than once by the bouncing Beckman. Cory McClenathan just smiled, laughed and continued his post race interview after every Beckman intrusion.

How excited was “Fast” Jack Beckman after besting 14-time Funny Car champion John Force in the rain-delayed NHRA Arizona Nationals Funny Car final round?

He was so excited he could hardly stand still.

Paul Page, off to the side doing his stand-up introductions for ESPN, was interrupted more than once by the bouncing Beckman. Cory McClenathan just smiled, laughed and continued his post race interview after every Beckman intrusion.

“Blah, Blah, Blah,” said Beckman into the digital recorders pointed at McClenathan, before dancing off like a ballerina into the dirt surrounding the ESPN compound.

It was a scene few would have ever seen had it not been for the deluge of rain which tossed more than one NHRA revised schedule into the trash. More people will see Beckman besting Force on ESPN's delayed broadcast, but only a privileged few say his boundless enthusiasm following the win.

Beckman couldn't stand still … not for long.

After Mother Nature finally relented on Monday to give track officials time to dry and groom the racing surface, Beckman and company rolled into the staging lanes about 15 minutes after the Force camp. From then on it was a real jousting contest. Beckman climbed under and into his hot rod. The Valvolina/MTS crew brought their engine to life first. Force hit the water first, running out to almost half-track on his burnout. Beckman pre-staged first and after what seemed like an eternity, staged at almost the same time as Force. Force was off the line first by .004 second, adding another thousandth of a second to his lead by the 60' mark. It was at that point that Force started to struggle and by the 330' mark, Beckman is half a second ahead on his way to his ninth career win in 18 final round appearances.

Driving the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car, honoring the U.S. Troops overseas with its “To Afghanistan With Love” theme, Beckman produced a stellar run of 4.121 seconds at 301.13 mph to defeat Force’s tire-smoking 6.316/106.24, earning his first win of the 2010 season and his second at this venue (2008).

“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,” said Beckman, his feet shuffling as he tried to reel in his enthusiasm long enough to answer questions from the media. “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.”

If Beckman was holding back, it was in small doses. He was somber at the appropriate moments, but never has victory tasted so sweet to a bracket racer who found success as a Pro late in his career.

“You want to make that statement early in the year that we are a team capable of winning races. You can go to the final and rack up a lot of points. That's cool. The trophy symbolizes a lot. It's a piece of metal and wood but it means that you were the best on that day. When you get that trophy early in the year, I think everybody on that team knows we can be the best on any given race day and that's the attitude it's going to take to run for  the championship at the end of this year.”

While Beckman's team is basically the same as it was last year, there has been one important change. Rahm Tobler, former crew chief/tuner for Cruz Pedregon, is now reading the graphs and making the decisions on Beckman's ride.

“I asked him what took so long,” laughed Beckman when questioned about Tobler's addition to the team. “To win second race out, to go to the semi-finals first race out, we literally have 25 runs together as a team and we've got a Wally and a semi-final finish, already. I do think that translates into further success.”

Somebody better tie a tether to Beckman, continued success this year will most definitely have him walking on the moon.