Beckman 2nd, JFR Team Qualifies for NHRA Arizona Nationals 2025

Chandler, Ariz. – Jack Beckman secured the second-quickest qualifying time in Funny Car at the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals on Saturday, leading the John Force Racing (JFR) contingent at Firebird Motorsports Park. The qualifying results set the stage for Sunday’s eliminations, where JFR teammates Jordan Vandergriff and Alexis DeJoria will face each other in the first round.

Beckman piloted the PEAK Chevrolet SS to a run of 3.982 seconds at 323.97 mph during Friday’s first qualifying session. Vandergriff, driving the Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS, qualified fifth with a 4.011-second pass at 288.21 mph, also set in Q1. DeJoria secured the 12th spot in the Bandero Premium Tequila Chevrolet SS with a 4.081-second run at 298.47 mph, also from Friday’s session. The high temperatures, reaching into the 90s and even exceeding 100 degrees, significantly impacted the ability of teams to consistently navigate the track.

In Top Fuel, Josh Hart qualified 10th with a 3.854-second run at 328.30 mph, achieved during Saturday’s third qualifying session. Hart’s run came in the semifinal round of the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where he utilized a holeshot start but ultimately lost to Justin Ashley as his dragster experienced issues down the track. Hart and Ashley are scheduled to meet again in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.

Vandergriff secured a win in the first round of the Funny Car #2Fast2Tasty Challenge when his opponent, Chad Green, fouled. He then faced JR Todd in the final round of the challenge, but his run was hampered by tire shake, allowing Todd to advance. DeJoria also participated in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, earning a holeshot advantage against Todd in the semifinal before losing traction and ending her run prematurely.

Beckman earned three bonus points for the lowest elapsed time in the fourth qualifying session and will start his pursuit of the event title against Daniel Wilkerson. “The PEAK SQUAD had a really good run in the heat in Q4 and earned three points for low ET of the session,” Beckman said. “We were second low of the first session, fifth low of the third session, lowest of the last session and just overpowered it on Q2. We’ve been almost a polar opposite of Gainesville. In this one, we unloaded with a great run which set the tone and we made it three out of four times down track. I’m really confident. Tomorrow will be another hot and nasty day but, with an earlier start, first round might be where we observe the quickest runs of the week. Our goal is to make ours and winning run and then we desire to survive the attrition.”

Vandergriff acknowledged the close competition within JFR. “JR and I both spun at almost the same time in the #2Fast2Tasty final. It looked like the Cornwell Tools Chevy may have put out more than one cylinder but hey, we were close. That’s all you can ask for. So we’ll take that momentum into tomorrow and get the get the real win. I’m gonna race my teammate again, Alexis this time, but it’s meant to be what it’s meant to be.”

DeJoria described the challenges posed by the extreme heat. “This has been a really interesting race for us so far. The 100-degree weather has been challenging, to say the least. But we’re in the show solid from Friday’s Q1 session so that’s great. We have just been trying to make runs A to B and ended up going against one of our teammates. So, like Jordan and Jack had to race first round at Gainesville, it’s me and Jordan. It’ll be a fun race one way or the other and one of us will be going to the second round.”

Hart praised the collaborative environment within the JFR team. “I have nothing but praise and love for the JFR team. We are second to none when it comes to communication, and the team and I collaboratively came together and said, ‘you understand, we had to try something big. That communication is priceless. We went out there and it didn’t fall our way this time, but I’m sure it will many more times in the future. And, hey, you have to race everybody on race day anyway. We’ll run our lane and be just fine.”

Qualifying action will be broadcast on FS1 at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 22, followed by eliminations coverage at 6:30 p.m. ET.