HRM:  What's a nice guy like you doing in a sport like this?

BECK:  The usual way, I guess. I started out running stock cars, the hobby racers, and you just work up until finally you turn into a professional racer. The amount of money it takes to run these things, you obligate yourself more and more to the sponsors and pretty soon, to meet your obligations, you've got to hit it full time.

HRM:  When you won the Nationals the first time, everybody made a big deal of the fact that you were a new driver. Was there really that big a step from what you were doing before to Top Fuel?

BECK:  It was really a little overrated. I'd driven A/Dragsters and B/Dragsters; then I retired from driving for a year. When I went back, I was in partnership with another guy, and we did well for a while. Then he ran into a slump, and I took over driving. I got my license, and we went to Seattle, lost the first round, then went to Indy and we won Indy. At Indy I was comfortable in the car; it took about a dozen runs to get back into it, so I was ready for Indy. As far as being brand-new, like it said in a lot of stories, I wasn't. It was just that nobody had heard of me for a while.

HRM:  One of the criticisms that's traditionally been leveled at drag racing is that the cars aren't technologically as advanced as they are in other types of racing. For instance, the sporty-car and oval racers point out that while drag racing seems to have the most to gain from going to a rear-engine layout, rear engines were used for years in other racing before Garlits finally made them work at the drags. What would you say about the level of sophistication of drag cars? Is the present setup pretty well refined, or are you just starting to figure out the fast way to go?

BECK:  When the rear-engined car was developed, I think it was a little ahead of our power -- we couldn't use the potential of the car. Now it's strictly an engine game. I think our technical work, our chassis development, is right up to snuff. It's more than what we need, really.

HRM:  What about tires?

BECK:  Tires fell back a few years ago. Now they're right up; the three manufacturers are very competitive. We're getting 1800 horsepower, and I can't use the biggest tire that's made right now. I have to go down to the second biggest. They're just that much ahead of me. I can't build the power to pull Goodyear's biggest tire.

HRM:  What kind of time do you put into the car to be competitive?

BECK:  All we can. We certainly spend our 40 hours just on the car, and when you add promotional tours and travel, it's easy to do two weeks' work in a week. I'm always back and forth between here [Keith Black's - Editor] and the radio stations. It takes a lot of time.

HRM:  How much money do you have in the car?

BECK:  Just to have a race car would take $12,000 anyway. To have a professional operation, with spares and everything, would run about $30,000. Then the engines are $7000 each, though it's not often you have to replace one entirely. I've never really blown a motor up this year, not to wipe it out. I've run about $3000 worth of pistons through it, but you have to run on that edge; you've got to run right there if you want to be competitive.

HRM:  Speaking of being competitive, Bill Jenkins was quoted in TIME as having said, "A monkey can drive one of these things in a straight line." How much of drag racing do you think is the car and how much is the driver?

BECK:  I think there is a lot of driving ability involved. They're very violent cars. It's something that a person has a natural talent for doing, and it's very hard to train somebody to do it. You try to run an all-out effort, and there's lots to work with as far as slipperiness and traction go. You have to drive by the seat of your pants. On a bad track it's very hard.

HRM:  There's been a lot said lately about the rising costs of racing. Drivers who said two years ago they could make the car pay for itself, so they could live off the sponsor money, now find they're just breaking even. Has this affected you?

BECK:  I think the major guys are making it. I've shown a profit the last two years. Not much, but I'm not in the hole. You have to have the major sponsors, or you'll have to put a lot of money in yourself. Keith Black has been very helpful to us -- Lee Eliminators, Goodyear, Cragar, Rocket Racing Products. We do a lot of work here at Black's, but we do a lot at home too. Reliable Engines in Edmonton is a big sponsor, and they're very good.

HRM:  One suggestion to cut down costs is to ban nitro. How do you feel about that?

BECK:  No, no. Top Fuel is the fastest class. As soon as they started restricting it, it'd change the whole thing. It would be different. I'm all for keeping it as wide open as it can get. Sure it'll be expensive, and we'll lose a few amateurs, but the professionals will carry on.

HRM:  Who do you rate as the top professionals in drag racing?

BECK:  There's a handful of killer cars. Certainly Garlits is tough, and I have a lot of respect for Carl Olson; he's very smart and cool. Jerry Ruth is very good too.

HRM:  What's the key to success in drag racing? Do you think it's evolution, refining what's been done before, or revolution, trying something radically new?

BECK:  I run mainly a standard operation; I'm not a pioneer. The engine builders, Black and Milodon and the rest, come out with trick stuff, aluminum blocks and like that, and I try to make it better. I'm the guy that's working with it. They build them, but they can't necessarily tell you how to run 'em. Black builds a lot of motors every year, but not all of them run very good. There have to be some ideas put into them after they leave Black's.

HRM:  How many runs can you get on an engine?

BECK:  We go through it about every ten passes. The crank will go about 40 passes; the steel blocks, I'm only getting about ten. The heads will go all season, the blower about 20 runs. It's a constant job. Last year the cranks were weak; this year they've got a new billet crank and the weak link is the block.

HRM:  What about the battles between the various sanctioning bodies? Do you think that's holding drag racing back?

BECK:  I like to race in the associations, and you can't race all three of them in a year. I race NHRA, some AHRA, but only one IHRA meet a year. You need the sanctioning bodies to bring in the sponsors, the support for the sport. I like the series; I really like racing series.

HRM:  Is there much chance for a young guy who wants to be a drag racer?

BECK:  I invite anybody to try it, but I think they'd be wise not to set their sights too high. Start out racing stock cars, take a shot at it and see how you do. I wouldn't advise jumping right into Fuel cars without some background. You'll lose a lot of money if you do.

HRM:  How do you feel about it? Is it what you want to do, or are you getting tired of the pressure and the travel?

BECK:  I'll carry on in the racing business, or whatever it grows into, for as long as I can make a living at it. I like the racing and the travel. I wouldn't want to do anything else.