BROWNSBURG, Ind. (MARCH 18, 2026) – Jack Beckman and his PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car team didn’t begin the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season the way they had planned but John Force Racing’s senior team has every reason to believe the March 20-22 FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark Plugs at Firebird Motorsports Park is where they will turn their fortunes around.
The 2012 NHRA Funny Car World Champion has earned 37 victories and 76 final-round appearances in the class since making his debut in 2006. Three event wins (2008, 2010, 2011), a runner-up finish (2020) and a semifinal’s showing last season in 15 starts at Firebird give Beckman and the Dan Hood / Tim Fabrisi-led PEAK SQUAD the confidence to rebound after a first-round exit two weeks ago at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway.
Beckman qualified ninth (4.029 seconds) at the Gatornationals but faced No. 8 qualifier and John Force Racing teammate Jordan Vandergriff (3.990 seconds) in the first round. Beckman’s run of 3.987 seconds was the third quickest of the round but not enough to get past Vandergriff’s 3.970-second run.
The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Funny Car point standings after one of 20 races are: Chad Green, 115; Alexis DeJoria, 93; J.R. Todd, 82; Jordan Vandergriff, 71; Matt Hagan, 59; Daniel Wilkerson, 56; John Smith, 51; Spencer Hyde, 51, Ron Capps, 41; Paul Lee, 37. Beckman is 11th with 32 points.
Quotes
How do you put Gainesville in the rearview mirror?
“It was disappointing because we had such a good preseason test session there. I don’t know if it was just different sportsman cars also running on the track, or the preparation was different than testing. A lot of teams just had a tough time adapting to that and we got behind. When we missed it on the Friday night shot. I knew we had a tall order ahead on Saturday. I had to pedal it on the third qualifying run to get in the show that got bumped out on the fourth qualifying session while I sat there in the lanes. We finally made a good run in the final session but we really had to slow the PEAK SQUAD car down to get down that tricky track, and unfortunately, the best I could put us was number 9. So, we went into first round without lane choice against our teammate (Vandergriff). We ran the third quickest run of the round, but he was low ET of the round.”
Does having won three times at Firebird give you confidence going into this week’s event?
“NASCAR drivers or F1 drivers would tell you that they prepare based on the track that they go to, and it’s not that all the NHRA tracks are identical, even though they’re identical. Each lane’s 30 feet wide. They’re straight, they’re a thousand feet of acceleration. There are different length shutdown areas, but each of them does have its own characteristics and nuances, and even that can change day to day and run to run. And what’s going to be intense is like the hottest track temp we saw in Gainesville was I think about 124 degrees. We’re likely gonna see 145 degrees in Phoenix, and that’s just something where the crew chiefs have to do everything they can to reel back the clutch application to get these things down the racetrack.”
How will the heat and the earlier qualifying schedule affect your race planning?
We’re going to get four qualifying runs so it’s very important and certainly preferred to unload with a good solid run. When you don’t do that, you start out behind the 8 ball. Phoenix is not gonna have that traditional ‘hero run’ on Friday night. In fact, the better runs are probably gonna be the first run Friday and first run Saturday. So, it be a slightly different tempo to what we do, but the strategy remains the same.”
How do you prepare any differently for the extremely hot temperatures in the forecast?
Except for when it’s unseasonably cool, we’re always sweating when we get out of the cars. Because not only are you wearing a fire suit, but you’re wearing socks, shoes, boots, inner gloves and outer gloves, a head sock, and a helmet with a skirt on it, so there’s just not a lot of room to cool yourself in there. You’re sweaty on a 70 degree day so 100-degree days are going to be miserable. I guess the silver lining is we probably won’t have a lot of humidity in Phoenix, but it’s, it’s gonna be interesting. My suggestion is if you’re not prepared to sweat, driving a nitro funny car is probably not the best career.
Stats
| Phoenix | Race Result | Qualified | Event Round Record |
| 2006 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A |
| 2007 (FC) | 1st round | 9th | 0-1 |
| 2008 (FC) | Winner | 15th | 4-1 |
| 2009 (FC) | 2nd round | 11th | 5-2 |
| 2010 (FC) | Winner | 7th | 9-2 |
| 2011 (FC) | Winner | 5th | 13-2 |
| 2012 (FC) | Semi-finals | 6th | 15-3 |
| 2013 (FC) | 1st round | 10th | 15-4 |
| 2014 (FC) | 2nd round | 6th | 16-5 |
| 2015 (FC) | 1st round | 12th | 16-6 |
| 2016 (FC) | 2nd round | 6th | 17-7 |
| 2017 (FC) | 1st round | 6th | 17-8 |
| 2018 (FC) | 1st round | 3rd | 17-9 |
| 2019 (FC) | 2nd round | 14th | 18-10 |
| 2020 (FC) | Runner-up | 6th | 21-11 |
| 2021 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A |
| 2022 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A |
| 2023 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A |
| 2024 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A |
| 2025 (FC) | Semi-finals | 3rd | 23-12 |
Starts: 15
Wins: 3 (2008, 2010, & 2011)
No. 1 Qualifiers: 0
Final Rounds: 4 (2008, 2010, 2011, 2020)
Event Round Record: 23-12
Track & TV Schedules
Friday and Saturday qualifying is at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. PDT. Sunday eliminations are slated for 10 a.m.
Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 10 p.m. ET on Friday and 12 p.m. on Sunday, leading into eliminations at 6:30 p.m. ET.
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