Watch Jack Beckman's NHRA funny car explode, still win race

Jeffrey N. Ross — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:58:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Safety, Videos, Dodge, Racing

Jack Beckman is looking to wrap up his first-ever NHRA Funny Car title, and it appears an exploding car is not going to slow him down. Half-way through this qualifying run on Thursday, a spectacular explosion destroyed his car's Dodge bodywork, engulfing Beckman in a ball of flames while traveling at almost 300 miles per hour. Fortunately, Beckman was not injured in the explosion (although he did lose an eyebrow from the fire) and he actually went on to win the race with a 4.117-second ETA at 273 mph, qualifying him fifth for this weekend's race at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California.

Despite losing most of the car's body and having a visor covered in oil, Beckman was able to deploy the parachutes and bring was left of his Charger funny car safely to a stop. In the video, you can actually see him shielding the fire from his face as he tries to get the car slowed down, and then once stopped, he hops out of the cockpit waving to the crowd. After the car comes to a rest, we get a good look at how underneath their funny car body shells, these racers actually resemble the classic rear-seat dragsters from the good ol' days.

According to ESPN, the team has a spare body for the car and will be able to race. As for the missing eyebrow, well only time will fix that. Scroll down to watch the amazing video which includes a slow-motion look at the incident as well as an in-car view that shows exactly what Beckman saw.

Continue reading Watch Jack Beckman's NHRA funny car explode, still win race

Watch Jack Beckman's NHRA funny car explode, still win race originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NHRA 2007 season ends in Pomona

Merritt Johnson — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:02:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports

The 2007 NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series ended this weekend at Pomona Raceway in California. It was a fitting end to a dramatic season marked with the passing of John Force Racing driver Eric Medlin and NHRA founder Wally Parks. There was also the spectacular crash in Texas between John Force and Kenny Bernstein that left a potential Funny Car champion out for the remainder of the season. Fortunately, unlike the rest of the season, all the drama during the finals was limited to the competition. Follow the jump to see the results.

[Source: NHRA]

Continue reading NHRA 2007 season ends in Pomona

NHRA 2007 season ends in Pomona originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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