MADISON, Ill. (SEPT. 28, 2025) – Jack Beckman and the PEAK SQUAD made it to the final round of Funny Car in the NHRA Midwest Nationals for the second consecutive year but came up just short of the repeat victory to Matt Hagan at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Reigning NHRA Funny Car Champion and current points leader Austin Prock bowed out in his second-round matchup against Beckman while two-time NHRA Top Fuel Championship Brittany Force wasn’t able to get past fellow championship contender Justin Ashley in Round 1.
Beckman and his John Force Racing Peak Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car made a run of 4.032 seconds at 314.83 mph in the final round, putting a cylinder out late in the run, to Hagan’s 3.979 at 329.34. In last year’s final, the 2012 Funny Car Champion defeated Ron Capps in the final round for his first event win for John Force Racing after taking over for the injured team owner at Brainerd.
“Before the final round, we had to make some wholesale changes,” said Beckman. “We went out there and our fuel curve was off a little bit and it dropped a cylinder. I’m not saying we would have had enough for them. I congratulated Hagen and team. They earned their victory today, but I think the PEAK SQUAD gave notice were still running for the championship.”
Beckman qualified ninth, giving lane choice in Round 1 to Spencer Hyde. The PEAK Antifreeze and Coolant Chevrolet SS Funny Car lost traction at half-track but Hyde struggled earlier in the run. Beckman’s lap of 4.350 seconds 206.95 mph was enough to stay ahead of Hyde’s 5.959 seconds at 113.12 mph.
In the all-John Force Racing Funny Car second round matchup, Prock chose the left lane and then left on Beckman (.071 to .082) but his rear tires lost traction 300 feet into the run. Prock did a great job pedaling his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car but the time it took to do so was all Fast Jack needed to move ahead and put the PEAK SQUAD into the semifinals. Beckman ran 4.018 seconds at 318.02 mph to Prock’s 4.352 at 273.16.
Beckman lined up for the semifinals against Chad Green, who had lane choice. Green won the reaction time battle, but Beckman’s lap was smooth while Green’s car lost traction at the halfway mark. Beckman clicked the win light at 4.014 seconds at 322.73 mph while Green slowed to a run of 7.063 seconds at 96.17 mph.
“We’ve been the best loser a lot of times,” said Beckman. “We’ve had a great hot rod and just flat got outrun at some races. We struggled at this race, but we won some pivotal rounds. So, this is where we kind of bank a little bit of luck. Our run against Austin was subpar, with more than twice the normal clutch wear, and that just slows everything down in the car. And then in the semifinals, the PEAK Chevy did something kind of similar.
“The race is not for second place, it’s for the championship and it just got really interesting because there are three cars right there. Well, there’s two of us staring at Austin’s rear bumper and it’s a lot closer than it was yesterday.”
Prock had his hands full in Round 1 of eliminations against No,.16 qualifier Bobby Bode, running 3.924 seconds at 328.46 mph to Bode’s 3.940 at 323.12 and moving on to the matchup with Beckman.
“It stings to go out early again. That’s two second-round losses in the Countdown, Typically, that doesn’t cut it, but the Countdown has been kind of wild this year, so all we have to do is just keep pushing forward. We’ll take this one on the chin and get right back to work. I think we’re capable of going out and winning a couple more this year with our Cornwell Tools Chevy. Usually, when we falter, we come right back and get the job done, so we definitely need to do that in Dallas.”
The Top 10 in Funny Car after the third of six races in the 2025 NHRA Countdown to the Championship are: 1. Austin Prock, 2,361; 2. Matt Hagan, 2,341; 3. Jack Beckman, 2,296; 4. Ron Capps, 2,236; 5. Daniel Wilkerson, 2,224; 6. Paul Lee, 2,203; 7. Cruz Pedregon, 2,199; 8. Spencer Hyde, 2,165; 9. Alexis Dejoria, 2,161; 10. Chad Green, 2,159.
Force qualified fifth with Friday’s Q1 run of 3.709 seconds at a track record 340.47 mph, the first 340-mph run at World Wide Technology Raceway and Force’s 11th such pass this season. She had lane choice against Ashley and had a solid 0.059 reaction time, but the HendrickCars.com Top Fuel Dragster lost traction shortly after launch. Ashley ran 3.772 seconds at 336.82 mph for the win to Force’s 5.328 seconds at 137.90.
“St. Louis was a tough weekend for the HendrickCars.com team,” said Force. “We didn’t qualify well. We only got down the track one lap, our 370 in Q1, which put us number five, but it’s hard to feel confident going into race day when you only have one solid run down the track. We overpowered the car in the first round and, unfortunately, we drove into smoke. We had a tough opponent in the first round so we really had to bring everything up to the starting line but overpowered the car, drove into smoke and didn’t get a win light. But we will pack up, go straight into Dallas. It’s still anyone’s game at this point.”
Force remained in sixth place in the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Top Fuel point standings after the third of six rounds in the Countdown to the Championship. The Top 10 are: 1. Doug Kalitta, 2,409; 2. Justin Ashley, 2,323; 3. Shawn Langdon, 2,282; 4. Tony Stewart, 2,256; 5. Clay Millican, 2,227; 6. Brittany Force, 2,216; 7. Antron Brown, 2,207; 8. Steve Torrence, 2,203; 9. Shawn Reed, 2,194; 10. Josh Hart, 2,117.
NEXT RACE
Round 18 of 20 of the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is the Oct. 8-12 Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.
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Photography: John Force Racing / Gary Nastase / Auto Imagery
