Fast Jack Beckman on Fins, Feet and Front Engine Dragsters

Trying to have a conversation with Fast Jack Beckman is like trying to catch a fly in flight. The first obstacle to overcome is in trying to slow him down. He is constantly in motion. His cell phone rings more than a cable car. The second problem is actually one of his more endearing qualities. He has a Robin Williams-esque personality. His conversations transition seamlessly from being humorous to serious and then back again, and he can pull thoughts about unrelated yet interesting subjects out of the clear blue sky, all while in the midst of answering a primary question. Ask him a question and you’ll get a straight answer, but at the same time you are likely to learn his thoughts about two other topics. You are never bored when Jack has the podium.

The popular funny car driver is a known fan of nostalgia racing and somewhat of a scholar of drag racing history. Although his current gig is driving the Aaron’s / Valvoline funny car out of Don Schumacher’s stable of cars, he has also driven a Nostalgia Funny Car. Before that he was a standout sportsman racer. In 2003 he drove his own rear engine dragster to a World Championship in the NHRA Super Comp category. For years Beckman was best known as the lead instructor at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School in Pomona, California where he may have been responsible for launching more drivers to stardom than even Roland Leong.

Jack is one of those rare people that, when meeting him for the first time, you feel like you are reuniting with an old friend. He carries no airs and genuinely treats everyone as if it’s been too long since you and he last spent time together… that is, if you can slow him down long enough to engage him in conversation. His curiosity is unbridled. By the end of a conversation he will have mined as much information about you, as you have about him.

When we spoke to Jack he was preparing to leave for the NHRA national event in Atlanta. He was gracious enough to find time to sit down with us on a busy afternoon when he was also doing three other interviews by telephone, and a weekly radio show. We were anxious to hear his thoughts about nostalgia racing and front engine top fuel dragsters. Between sidebars about landscaping, sushi, management styles, home construction, and a dozen other diverse topics, here is some of what we got.

AAFD: Jack, we’ve seen you around the March Meet and the California Hot Rod Reunion, and know that you’ve driven a Nostalgia Funny Car. Do you follow the nostalgia scene?

JB: I used to follow it closer than I do now, and a lot of other series too. I could pretty much tell you what was going on in all forms of racing, but my life has gotten a little busier. With a growing family, a new home, and the commitments of my driving job I have trouble keeping up on everything like I once did. I’ve got friends who race in the nostalgia series and they keep me updated.

AAFD: What do you like about the current ‘nostalgia’ racing?

JB: I love it. I think it’s the coolest thing out there. My first race was at Orange County in 1973, so I missed a lot of the type of racing that the nostalgia races represent.

AAFD: What do you think of the front engine top fuel dragsters?

JB: Oh man, they are exciting to watch. If they had the instant recognition that the funny cars have they’d be even more popular than they are.

AAFD: Anything you dislike about them?

JB: I’d like it if they had a more traditional look. I understand why they are built as they are, but if they resembled the cars of the 60’s and 70’s more closely I’d like them even better. There are about three of them out there that look quite similar to the old cars, but overall it is hard to distinguish them at a distance.

AAFD: As a driving instructor, do you consider the AA/FDs a good ‘stepping stone’ to the dragsters in the big show?

JB: Any seat time can make for a better driver, but actually I think they do a better job of preparing a driver for a big show funny car. With their long (steering) draglinks, no rack and pinion steering, big horsepower and small tires, and very limited vision from the driver’s seat, I think they are more similar to driving a funny car than a rear engine dragster.

AAFD: Let’s step back in time. If you could not race a current car, in what era would you have liked to have competed?

JB: (Pauses to give it some thought and then says;) It would be from about 1963 to 1983, the period of time when the dragsters went from being short wheelbase front engine cars to mid-five second, 260 mile per hour rear engine cars. Those were some exciting times.

AAFD: Who were your top fuel heroes?

JB: Hero is a big word. Let’s say idols. How could you not pick Garlits, or James Warren, or Beck, or Shirley? I always liked Carl Olson, and I was a fan of Walt Rhodes too. (Beckman started to add more names, showing he had a healthy appreciation and knowledge of many former drivers, but we moved on.)

AAFD: What AA/Fuel Dragster from the past would you have liked to have driven?

JB: Cars that had cool names stand out in my mind. Cars like the Rain for Rent, or Da’ Revell Fast Guys, that was a cool name, Blood, Sweat, & Nitro, and of course the Fighting Irish, man those guys were badass. I can’t forget the California Charger, that car was beautiful.

AAFD: Continuing the fantasy theme, you can have dinner with 3 other people, all celebrities of Motorsports from the past or present. Who would you invite?

JB: (Beckman gives the question some considerable thought then struggles to narrow it down to;) Mario Andretti….. Richard Petty…… and Don Garlits. No, wait! I’ve had dinner with ‘Big’. He’s great, but I think I would put T.C. Lemons in there (Garlit’s long time helper). Can you imagine the stories he could tell? He’s the best story teller.

AAFD: Where would you go for that fantasy meal?

JB: (Laughs) Bob’s Big Boy. (At the time we were sitting in a Bob’s Big Boy in Norco, California. When we walked in several of the employees greeted Jack like an old friend. I was getting the idea that this was a favorite haunt of his. He made no effort to go back and change his answer to the question.)

AAFD: Let’s hit some personal favorites. What is you favorite food?

JB: (Emphatically) Nothing uncooked! Actually I like most everything, but how can you beat a burger and fries?

AAFD: What kind of music is on your play list?

JB: I like classic rock, and…. (hesitantly)1980’s big hair bands. I think I am a victim of my age. The music you hear when you are between the ages of 13 and 26 seems to become your favorite.

AAFD: What is your favorite race track?

JB: Actually there are a number of tracks I like, but if I had to pick only one it would probably be Pomona. I have won there, and I instructed there for ten and a half years. I have lots of good memories from that track. (At this point Jack scrolls up a couple of pictures on his iPhone and slides it across the table. The first photo is of his right foot with a very nasty gash across the top of it, and the second one is after it had been stitched up. It looked like Frankenstein’s throttle foot.) That was the day before the Winternationals this year. The fin on my surfboard sliced right across the top of my foot. This wasn’t one of my better Pomona memories.

AAFD: Okay, moving on (and trying to change the topic of the lunchtime conversation), long board, short board, or boogie board?

JB: Short board.

AAFD: Favorite surfing spot?

JB: My friend that I go surfing with lives down by Redondo Beach, so we surf Redondo a lot.

AAFD: Tell us something most fans don’t know about you?

JB: I’m a high school drop out. I went back and got my GED, but I didn’t finish high school. I had terrible eye allergies. My first day of school I didn’t see a thing. I had a wet towel over my eyes all day. From then on it was a lot of the same thing. I spent my school years squinting and wiping the tears from my eyes. I found out I could go to school only four days a week and still get a B, or three days and get a C, so eventually I just quit and went the GED route.

AAFD: We are a quarter of the way through the NHRA Full Throttle season and you are 3rd in points and have one win already. Is this Jack Beckman’s year?

JB: One of the neatest things is going to the races and feeling that you have the ability to win every round. My team has that feeling. The first three quarters of the season it isn’t so important to win every round, but you’ve got to be good enough to be in the countdown. The last quarter it’s different, it is very important to win every round, and to do that you’ve got to be good and lucky. You need to average a semi-final finish at each of the countdown races to win the championship. I expect that come Pomona we’ll be one of the cars fighting for the championship.

AAFD: In regards to your current racing, what regulation would you most like to see changed?

JB: I wouldn’t disqualify runs. I understand the need to enforce rules and put on a good show, but disqualifying a run is going too far. No one goes to the starting line believing that they are going to oil the track. We are just trying to make great runs, and sometimes things happen. Taking away a run is too severe.

AAFD: Back to the Heritage Series, will we see you at any more events this year?

JB: Last year I missed the California Hot Rod Reunion because we were back East with our motor home. This year, with Jenna expecting in August, I’ll be flying back and forth, so I won’t be on the road. So, yes, I’ll be at the California Hot Rod Reunion for sure. (AAFD note, Jack and wife Jenna already know that son Jason will be getting a baby sister.)

AAFD: Final question, any chance that we could find you behind the wheel of a Front Engine Top Fuel Dragster?

JB: I’ve had some offers, but haven’t been able to take advantage of them. Driving a front engine Top Fuel Dragster is definitely on my bucket list. Believe me, before I am done driving that is going happen.