Surely breaking a 54-race winless streak this spring at Charlotte will be one of NHRA Funny Car driver Jack Beckman's favorite 2015 memories. 

Even more remarkable is that it followed a dumbfounding DNQ at the season opener. Given crew chief Jimmy Prock's triumphant entry at Don Schumacher Racing and the addition of respected and beloved tuner John Medlen as his complement, no one expected Beckman to swing and miss at both of the first two races and lose in Round 2 at the third. 

That Charlotte achievement was giving Beckman traction in the Terry Chandler-funded Infinite Hero Dodge Charger. It laid the groundwork for his No. 2 qualifying position at Las Vegas and his 3.988-second blast at Houston that entitled him to lead the field. It all assured he was on the right track as he took a runner-up finish. 

He said that Friday night qualifying run of 3.988 was "spectacular" and "a big highlight for me." 

However, the U.S. Air Force veteran, said, "The bigger highlights for me have come with the helmet off. It is through the Infinite Hero Foundation." Beckman took a minute to remind himself and NHRA drag-racing fans what the words "Infinite Hero" represent. 

"Just to put into perspective . . . The things we are doing, trying to change some lives . . . At Las Vegas, a mother and father had come up to me and talked to me on Friday. Then Saturday a different father came up and talked to me. Both of them were parents of Afghanistan combat veterans who came home and killed themselves. What do you say to parents like that?" Beckman asked. 

"To put things in perspective, a bad day at the racetrack doesn't even register to what these folks have gone through. To know that through our program, trying to raise funds, issuing the grants to places like the brain treatment center, this is not a commercial, this is just to frame [the question] 'What has been the highlight of my year?' " he said during an NHRA-sponsored teleconference. "I'm thinking through our efforts there's a lot of parents that won't have to say that in the future, that we can get the treatment for those veterans that have post-traumatic stress and are at a high risk of suicide, get them in before the worst happens, get them started on their path back to a new normal." 

His own "new normal" in terms of performance is something Beckman can articulate in five words: "Whatever Jimmy says, I'll do." 

He said, "We started off this year with a DNQ in Pomona. But I wasn't really nearly as disappointed as I thought I might have been. I think the reason is I'm looking ahead and I know what we're capable of. I know Jimmy Prock's track record. I know we were going to get a solid foundation underneath us and start winning races. I always said Jimmy needed 20 runs to the finish line with this new hybrid combination before he could start collecting enough data to make consistently quick runs. I think our final round win at Charlotte was the 18th run to the finish line with that combo. I think we're actually right on target for a great year. 

"Whether that equates to a championship, who knows? With the Countdown format, it really changes the composure of the points system. You've got 18 races to get yourself in the top 10, and then you kind of throw all that away. It's almost like when NASCAR waves the yellow flag, everybody bunching up," Beckman said. "Then for six races you better hope you don't have any silly things go wrong, a bearing seize up, a clutch finger break. In the final round at Houston, we had an O ring that went bad on our fuel slide valve. Stuff like that during the regular season is a hiccup. In the final rounds, it could take you out the championship." 

Using the same logic, the same calmness, Beckman shrugged off a 2013 season that was much less impressive than his Funny Car championship year of 2012. 

"Yeah, I won it in 2012. Everybody said we had a really disappointing 2013. Well, we really didn't," he said. "We went to three final rounds. Same crew as 2012, Todd Smith calling the shots. We finished third in the points. I wouldn't by any means consider that a disappointing year. It's just that when you come off winning a championship, maybe anything but another championship is disappointing. [In] 2014 the wheels fell off . . . incredibly frustrating year, very disappointing. Never finished outside of the top five. Didn't finish within the top 10. Never won a race. That's the first time since I started racing – well, I don't know if I won a race in '88 – but from '89 on, I'd won at least one race every year in my sportsman car. In 2013, I won the Traxxas Shootout. 

"[But] 2014 was the first time in 25 years that I did not win a single race. I can't put my finger on one specific thing that was the reason for our lack of success. We certainly tried just as hard. I thought we had just as much talent onboard. Things just didn't go our way," Beckman said. 

Toward the end of last year, he received a happy surprise – the arrival of Prock. 

"When I heard he was coming over to my car the last two races of last year, I didn't believe it. I didn't know what his plans were going to be for 2015. Don could put him on any of the teams," Beckman said. "I was grateful that not only did he stay on my team, but John Medlen came over. We kept Chris Cunningham." 

And Beckman has been more than willing to accommodate him. 

"I've changed a lot of things I do to suit Jimmy, burnout routines and a couple other things," he said. "Sometimes it's easier for the crew chiefs to change their routine about the driver; sometimes it's the other way around. The reality is we probably both changed our approaches a little bit. For instance, just the burnout . . . When we went to Palm Beach, we did 15 test runs. It took us six to get the burnout RPM correct. The difference was the way John and I pressed the throttle pedal down on the burnout. Jimmy had to adjust the car to suit me. Backing up from the burnout, he and Medlen had some preferences for the way they like the clutch movement to be, and it was pretty easy for me to adapt to that." 

Whatever happens, whoever his crew chief is (and he might have to take his shoes and socks off to count them all), Beckman has fashioned the best strategy for himself when it comes to ensuring the best outcome each round. 

"What's the best way to approach every single run? I found myself Sunday morning at Houston rolling up there, saying, 'Why am I extra nervous today?' I think the reason was I hadn't qualified No. 1 for so long, maybe I was putting extra expectation and pressure on myself," he said. "If you were going to say that not putting undue pressure on yourself is the right way to approach each run, by definition I got to say that's the right way to approach the championship. It's certainly easier said than done. But I know I perform better, and I'm certain if answered honestly, everybody would agree that they perform their best without undue pressure. 

"This cliché about digging deep, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, I just think people are missing the mark a little bit on that one," he said. "I think when you're confident, calm, and cool, I think you're more able to go out there and able to execute run after run the way it needs to be done." 

The intensity in drag racing, Beckman said, is unique. When it's showtime at the dragstrip, the emotions, the processes, the thrill is something no other sport can match. 

Someone asked Beckman, "What is drag racing most similar to, if anything?" 

Replied the racer, "Great question. And 'nothing' is the short answer. I can delve a little bit deeper. NASCAR, you send a bunch of competitors out there, the event lasts a long time, there's a lot of strategy and moving around, people don't show their hand till late in the race, there's the burst, then there's the top 10. Usually the person who finishes ninth is pretty happy. The person who finishes fourth says, 'What a great day, another top five finish.' You hear NASCAR drivers say that. I've never heard a drag racer lose in the second round and go on TV and say, 'Man, another top-five finish. This is wonderful!' 

"Our sport has a winner and a loser. It's a different format. It's what makes it so incredible. It's what makes it so incredibly difficult," he said. "So if you were to take that approach, it's similar to boxing in that you get out there, and at any second any mistake, it could end. You go out there and you have a great round, you go back to your corner. Guess what? You have to get ready to do it again and again and again. At the end of the day there's one person that didn't lose. Everybody else, by definition, is a loser in drag racing. I don't mean to say that as a negative sort of thing. I think it's what makes our sport so incredibly special.

"No, it doesn't last three hours like a NASCAR race with all the strategizing, but you have to be so incredibly mentally focused for a short period of time, then you got to get out of the vehicle, go back, decompress, let the adrenaline come down, interact with the fans," Beckman said. "Another difference is I've never seen a Major League baseball pitcher go out and pitch an inning, then run up into the stands, sign autographs for 15 minutes, then go back to work again. I don't know if the average person appreciates that about drag racing. In one day, that helmet might be on four different times and you have to completely go into your zone to perform. Then when it's off, there's an expectation that you go interact with the fans. I love to do it. There's a lot of drivers that would rather not do it. They sit in their trailers. I think that's unfortunate, because the fans deserve more than that. But I love that aspect of being able to settle back down, interact with the fans, get your breathing and everything restored, enjoy things for a while, then go back to this high level of focus." 

His next chance to do all that will come at the May 15-17 Summit Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

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