MORRISON — Ah, the drama of the drags. Jack Beckman didn’t just beat No. 1 qualifier John Force in Sunday’s funny car final at Bandimere Speedway. Gallons of salt were exposed to Force’s wounds after the NHRA’s winningest driver was denied a record-tying sixth victory on “Thunder Mountain.”
Beckman drives for Don Schumacher Racing and his crew chief is Jimmy Prock, who ended a storied 14-year tenure with Force late last season when much of John Force Racing’s crew was reshaped during the playoffs.
Prock’s departure was an ugly split, because a war of words ensued. Force reportedly accused Schumacher and Prock, who came over from JFR along with crew chief John Medlen, of staging a coup in an attempt to ruin him.
Since, Force has twice declined to shake Schumacher’s hand in front of television crews, saying he feels Schumacher is only doing so to look like the nice guy in front of cameras.
Accusations aside, Schumacher and Prock have owned Force this year. Prock is 11-0 against Force’s three-car team, which includes Robert Hight and Courtney Force. Beckman was 0-6 last year against JFR drivers.
“I figure I paid my dues against Force cars,” Beckman said after using a 4.190-second pass (293.92 mph) to improve to 2-0 in final rounds against John Force this year. “Throughout the weekend they were just a little bit better than everybody else. So to go out there and beat the No. 1 qualifier, the winningest guy all time and do it at the Mopar race at Bandimere, I mean, this is just a perfect weekend.”
Steve Torrence (top fuel), Larry Morgan (pro stock) and Eddie Krawiec (pro stock motorcycle) also won division titles in a memorable race day on the mountain. Torrence upset DSR’s Tony Schumacher in the final and Morgan used a staging stalling technique to help dethrone the dominant Allen Johnson.
Morgan and Krawiec both won on hole shots (superior starts), meaning they reached the finish line first despite slower times than their opponent.
The Schumacher-Force drama carried over into Force’s motor home long after the race. Force declined to specifically say what Schumacher did late last season to disrupt his team, but he is angry about that and Schumacher’s seemingly hypocritical personality.
“It’s a great on-track rivalry,” Force said. “I’m not going hate anybody in my life and not even dislike anybody. He beat me today, fair and square. No matter what we say, it doesn’t matter what the fans think, what the sponsors or (other) people think.
“What matters to me is I know that Don Schumacher knows what really happened last year in the Countdown. He knows and I know it, because he made the call to me. End of story.”
Schumacher, standing beside Beckman in a postrace news conference said “the battle between DSR and John Force Racing is real.”
“When your competitor is out here, I have no love for him on the starting line. Plain and simple, especially when he’s against one of my cars,” Schumacher said. “He has irritated me at times, and I know I’ve irritated him at times. That’s just the way it is out here.”
He added: “I have the utmost respect for him and I hope he has the same for me.”
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or
Final-round results
Top fuel: Steve Torrence (3.925 seconds, 319.37 mph) def. Tony Schumacher (3.940, 305.08)
Funny car: Jack Beckman (4.190, 293.92) def. John Force (4.291, 258.96)
Pro stock: Larry Morgan (6.944, 199.01) def. Allen Johnson (6.930, 199.02)
Pro stock motorcycle: Eddie Krawiec (7.239, 185.51) def. Hector Arana Jr. (7.230, 186.43)
