The drag strip and MoparMax.com teamed up to honor local hero, Jack Beckman. Beckman won the NHRA world super comp championship in 2003 and now races the Valvoline NextGen Dodge Charger funny car for Don Schumacher Racing. But it’s as much for his deeds off the track as on that he was honored. Jack was born in Southern California and still lives east of Los Angeles. He went into the US Air Force after high school and mustered out as a sergeant. He became an elevator technician and worked all the overtime he could get to pay for entry fees and parts for his race car. His vacation time was spent traveling to races. His hard work and effort paid off when he beat out over 1,400 other dragsters nationwide in 2003 to take the world title. He has helped over 7,000 drag racing students over the years as an instructor at Frank Hawley’s school of racing. But Jack’s biggest win light in life came shortly after winning the title when he was diagnosed with stage III lymphoma cancer. Now, among his many charitable efforts he is working with the Amgen Chemotherapy: Myths or Facts campaign. Jack shared with us his passion for communicating with and helping cancer patients take charge of their cancer journey by speaking openly with their doctors.
Jack not only signed autographs for fans in our MoparMax booth, he acted as crew chief for my race car for the evening. Jack watched me stage and launch and offered suggestions to Richard and I on things we can improve. I got to have Jack Beckman bring me into the waterbox and watch me run from the starting line. Amazing. Thank you Jack and it was a privilege to be a part of the team that honored you.
– Alex
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