Chat with Jack Beckman

...cancer survivor, sits fifth in the points standings in Funny Car, only 40 points behind leader Ron Capps. With six events remaining, Beckman has earned two wins in 2007 - in Denver and Seattle. When...

Chat | August 28, 2007

Pedregon wins 2nd Funny Car title; Krawiec takes Pro Stock motorcycle crown

Cruz Pedregon won his second NHRA Funny Car season championship, and first in 16 years, with a victory Sunday in the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals in Southern California.

Cruz Pedregon wins Funny Car title with help of friends and family

Cruz Pedregon played the NHRA's playoffs game to perfection, winning his second career Funny Car title Sunday at the Auto Club Finals, writes John Schwarb.

Force: NHRA 'made the right call' by staying at 1,000 feet

News that nitro racing in the NHRA will stay at the shortened 1,000-foot distance -- at least for the time being -- brought a collective sigh of relief from the pit area at Auto Club Raceway, writes John Schwarb.

Roller-coaster season comes to screeching halt at Pomona

Ron Capps can't win the NHRA POWERade Funny Car title, but he can gain some much-needed momentum for next season by winning Sunday at Pomona Raceway, he writes in his diary.

Capps out of title hunt, but still within striking distance of year's first win

It's been a disappointing season for Funny Car driver Ron Capps. But a victory at Vegas would help take away some of the sting, he writes in his diary.

Ron Capps

'Kentucky Kid' gets acquainted with new ride at Valencia test session

AP Photo/Alberto Saiz MotoGP fans swarm American rider Nicky Hayden, far right, before the Valencia Moto Grand Prix. MotoGP: Hayden already in 2...

With Funny Car title out of grasp, NAPA team focuses on race wins

Chances are slim Ron Capps can win a Funny Car points title in 2008. But getting a race win at Virginia Motorsports Park is another matter, he writes in his diary.

Good won't be good enough with four races left in Countdown

Ron Capps has a hole to dig out of if he's going to be factor in the Countdown to 1. He writes in his diary that good won't be good enough over the final four races.

Countdown picture in Funny Car a jigsaw puzzle after playoff opener

If Ron Capps learned anything from the inaugural Countdown in 2007, it's that anything can happen -- and it usually does, he writes in his diary.

John Force on the sidelines as eliminations for first Countdown event roll

Funny Car legend John Force showed again Saturday why the NHRA gets it right. You have to go fast to race in Sunday's show. Force is going to have to watch after failing to qualify at the new zMax Dragway, writes Terry Blount.

Capps & Co. anxious to put on a show at Carolinas Nationals

The Countdown to 1 kicks off this week at the new zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. Want to see a good show? Don't miss this one, Ron Capps writes in his diary.

The key to Kahne's misery in 2008? Plain ol' bad luck

Don't blame Kasey Kahne and the 9 team for not making the Chase. Blame the two heartbreaking DNFs Kahne & Co. had to swallow at Michigan and Bristol, writes Marty Smith.

Crew chief's departure a distraction, but Schumacher's car still the one to beat

Will the impending departure of famed crew chief Alan Johnson derail Tony Schumacher's magical season in Top Fuel? We could find out as soon as this weekend's Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, writes John Schwarb.