BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Oct. 14, 2026) – The Texas Motorplex has been a bit of a paradox in the life and NHRA career of John Force Racing’s Jack Beckman but his only goal for the Oct. 16-18 Texas NHRA FallNationals is to leave the Texas Motorplex on Sunday evening with the winner’s trophy and, in doing so, keep his championship aspirations alive and well.
The 39-time NHRA Funny Car winner was a fan in the Texas Motorplex grandstands for the first NHRA national event held there in 1986. Beckman first raced there in 1998 in the Super Comp class, competed in Top Fuel there 2005 and made his nitro Funny Car debut there in 2006.
It was a long dry spell, until the 2020 FallNationals, before Beckman finally won at the Motorplex, with his dad on hand to celebrate with him in winner’s circle. But then his career was put on hold, without a ride for the next three and a half years. Subbing for the injured John Force in October 2024, Beckman qualified seventh in the PEAK Chevy but woke up Sunday morning with vertigo and was unable to compete. He was a second-round finisher last season.
The PEAK SQUAD is currently fourth in the 2026 NHRA point standings on the strength of two wins (Epping, Indianapolis) and three runner-up finishes (Charlotte, Maryland, Norwalk). Beckman is just 17 points out of third place, 51 back of teammate Jordan Vandergriff and 123 out of first place.
The popular “Battle for the Saddle” will again be on the line at the FallNationals, with a $15,000 bonus to be awarded to the low qualifier in both Top Fuel and Funny Car during Friday night qualifying.
The 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings after 17 of 20 races are: 1. Matt Hagan, 2,402; 2. Jordan Vandergriff, 2,330; 3. Austin Prock, 2,296; 4. Jack Beckman, 2,279; 5. J.R. Todd, 2,270; 6. Ron Capps, 2,240; 7. Alexis DeJoria, 2,215; 8. Daniel Wilkerson, 2,174; 9. Chad Green, 2,123; 10. Spencer Hyde, 2,117.
Quotes
You’re 123 back to Hagan, but there are 1.5x points at Pomona. What’s it going for Jack Beckman and the PEAK SQUAD to win the championship?
“It’s going to take a couple of weekends like we had at Indy where the PEAK Chevy is doing what it’s doing and I’m clicking with that. Our car has been absolutely phenomenal the last four races and, in the three races we got beat, those other cars stepped up. You had Matt Hagan, Dan Wilkerson, and Austin Prock put together stellar efforts of reaction times and good ET’s. I don’t have an overdrive. People talk about giving it 110 percent but that’s not mathematically possible. This isn’t the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl and the quarterback’s got a broken throwing finger and just sucks it up. This is a mental exercise, and I try to do the best I can do, whether it’s qualifying or the final round, and I’m gonna continue to do that. Sometimes the breaks just don’t go your way so we are going to have to have a couple Indy-like weekends and we need Hagan to go out early at one or two races, which is very possible. We lost first round at Rockingham to Wilkerson. We had a great car and I made a good lap but he made a better lap. We’re painted into a corner right now because it’s not just our excellence that’s going to be needed for the championship. We have to rely on Hagan going out early a couple of times.”
What are your memories of winning at Dallas in 2020?
“I have to go back to the first Dallas national event in 1986. My buddy, Lee West, and I drove 500 miles each way from the Air Force base in New Mexico to watch that race. My dad was living in the Dallas area so we stayed with him and watched Don Garlits beat Darrell Gwynn in the final at what was the most awesome facility on the planet back then. Fast forward to 1998, the first time I raced at the Texas Motorplex. I had won the Winternationals driving a friend’s car and raced it again at the Motorplex. Now fast forward to 2006 where I made my nitro Funny Car debut in Dallas. It took me until 2020 to close the deal there and had always been at the top of my list. You want to win Pomona. You want to win Indy. I wanted to win Dallas and 2020 was literally the last year of my first career in nitro racing. I had run out of funding by the end of the year and went on the sidelines for nearly four years. I thought that was it but, by God, I got one of my dreams. I got to win Dallas with my dad there and got him the cowboy hat in the winner’s circle.”
What makes the Texas Motorplex so special?
“The first four-second Top Fuel run took place at the Texas Motorplex on April 9, 1988. I was working as a crew member on a nitro Funny Car and was in the stands and watched Eddie Hill run the first four. What makes the Texas Motorplex so special isn’t the pavement, but that pavement has enabled it to dish out some pretty stout record performances. I don’t know if it’s accurate to call it the first ‘super track’ but it was the first stadium-style tower laid out the way it was when my friend and I drove up. I would’ve been 20 years old when we drove down that small highway and you were out in the middle of nowhere. This thing just jumped out of nowhere in the distance with a digital sign out by the highway. There have been a lot of tracks patterned after it. There are newer tracks. There are bigger tracks. There are tracks that tick more boxes now but there’s only one first and the Texas Motorplex set the standard.”
Weekend Appearances
Beckman will be signing autographs with Alexis DeJoria at the John Force Racing merchandise hauler on the NHRA midway on Fri, Oct. 16, from 3:45 – 4:15 p.m. CT. He will also be signing autographs at the Cornwell Tools midway display on Sat., Oct. 17, from 9:30 – 10 a.m. CT.
Track Schedule
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 4:15 and 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 16, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12 and 2:30 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 12 p.m. CT on Sunday, Oct. 18.
TV Schedule
Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, leading into eliminations at 3 p.m. ET.
Race Results
| Dallas | Race Result | Round by Round Results | Qualified | Event Record |
| 2005 (TF) | 1st round | Lost to Morgan Lucas | 11th | 0-1 |
| 2006 (FC) | 1st round | Lost to Tommy Johnson Jr. | 15th | 0-2 |
| 2007 (FC) | 1st round | Lost to Tony Pedregon | 7th | 0-3 |
| 2008 (FC) | Semi-finals | Beat Jerry Toliver, Gary Densham; lost to Tony Pedregon | 5th | 2-4 |
| 2009 (FC) | Runner-up | Beat Matt Hagan, John Force, Jerry Tolliver; lost to Robert Hight | 7th | 5-5 |
| 2010 (FC) | 2nd round | Beat Jim Head; lost to Ashley Force Hood | 7th | 6-6 |
| 2011 (FC) | 2nd round | Beat Timi Wilkerson; lost to Jon Capps | 6th | 7-7 |
| 2012 (FC) | 2nd round | Beat Jeff Arend; lost to Ron Capps | 3rd | 8-8 |
| 2013 (FC) | Semi-finals | Beat Alexis DeJoria, Matt Hagan; lost to Cruz Pedregon | 6th | 10-9 |
| 2014 (FC) | 1st round | Lost to Robert Hight | 8th | 10-10 |
| 2015 (FC) | Runner-up | Beat Tony Pedregon, John Force, Tommy Johnson Jr.; lost to Del Worsham | 2nd | 13-11 |
| 2016 (FC) | 2nd round | Beat Dave Richards Lost to Ron Capps | 2nd | 14-12 |
| 2017 (FC) | Semi-finals | Beat J.R. Todd, Daniel Wilkerson; lost to Ron Capps | 3rd | 16-13 |
| 2018 (FC) | 2nd round | Beat Courtney Force; lost to J.R. Todd | 5th | 17-14 |
| 2019 (FC) | 2nd round | Beat Ron Capps; lost to Bob Tasca | 12th | 18-15 |
| 2020 (FC) | Winner | Beat Cruz Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson, Bob Tasca III, Matt Hagan | 6th | 22-15 |
| 2021 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2022 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2023 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2024 (FC) | 1st round | Lost to Chad Green | 3rd | 22-16 |
| 2025 (FC) | 2nd round | Beat Dave Richards; lost to Daniel Wilkerson | 3rd | 23-17 |
Wins: 1 (2020)
No. 1 Qualifiers: 0
Event Record: 23-17
2026 Results
| Event | Qualify | Round by Round | Round Record | Points Position |
| Gainesville | 9 | Lost to Jordan Vandergriff | 0-1 | 11 |
| Phoenix | 2 | Lost to Daniel Wilkerson | 0-2 | 10 |
| Pomona1 | 8 | Beat Jim Campbell; lost to J.R. Todd | 1-3 | 10 |
| Charlotte | 6 | Advanced Rounds 1 & 2; runner-up to Ron Capps | 3-4 | 8 |
| Valdosta | 11 | Lost to Matt Hagan | 3-5 | 8 |
| Chicago | 1 | Beat Chris King; lost to Matt Hagan | 4-6 | 8 |
| Maryland | 1 | Beat Joe Morrison, J.R. Todd, Jordan Vandergriff; lost to Austin Prock | 7-7 | 7 |
| Epping | 2 | Beat Phil Burkart Jr., Matt Hagan, Ron Capps, Jordán Vandergriff | 11-7 | 5 |
| Bristol | 3 | Beat Jeff Arend; lost to Daniel Wilkerson | 12-8 | 5 |
| Norwalk | 4 | Beat Spencer Hyde, Daniel Wilkerson, Austin Prock; lost to Ron Capps | 15-9 | 4 |
| Sonoma | 2 | Beat Jeff Arend, Cruz Pedregon; lost to Daniel Wilkerson | 17-10 | 3 |
| Seattle | 2 | Beat Tim Gibbons, Cruz Pedregon; lost to Austin Prock | 19-11 | 2 |
| Brainerd | 6 | Lost (DQ) to Chad Green | 19-12 | 5 |
| Indianapolis | 3 | Beat Jeff Arend, Alexis DeJoria, Austin Prock, Matt Hagan | 23-12 | 3 |
| Martin | 2 | Beat Jeff Diehl, Ron Capps; lost to Matt Hagan | 25-13 | 3 |
| Rockingham | 4 | Lost to Daniel Wilkerson | 25-14 | 5 |
| St. Louis | 1 | Beat Dale Creasy Jr., Daniel Wilkerson; lost to Austin Prock | 27-14 | 4 |
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