Championship Drag Racing

SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals
Las Vegas, Nev.
(April 10-13)

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Driver Profile

Ron Capps NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger

Las Vegas, Friday: Ron Capps drove the NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T into the No. 16 position after two rounds of Funny Car qualifying for the NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Two more sessions of qualifying are scheduled for Saturday, with no sign of inclement weather in the forecast.

Under sunny and moderately warm conditions, Capps lost traction in his first try, posting a 10.083-second lap at 75.39 mph, leaving him outside of the top 12. The first round of qualifying proved tough on the majority of the competitors, with only two cars recording elapsed times under five seconds.

In the second pair of cars to take to the track, Capps’ next attempt produced a 4.991/305.77, which moved him up in the field. As conditions cooled for the cars that followed, however, Capps fell to No. 16 and out of the qualified top 12.

 “The first round was just incredibly tough to get down the track,” said Capps. “And as the rubber got better and better on the track you could see teams getting more and more of a handle. But the unfortunate part was we were one of the first pairs out in the second session and directly behind us was a big oildown, which let the temperatures start diving down lower and lower for all the teams behind us. So, our 4.99 had a cylinder out at half-track or it would’ve run a lot better. And then all we could do was get back to the pit area and analyze and listen to the announcer talking about how everybody else ran better.

“I think NHRA’s new top-12 qualifying format is going to work out great tomorrow and we just need to be one of the top four quickest tomorrow and concentrate on Sunday.”

Capps’ 4.991-second elapsed time will not carry over into tomorrow under NHRA’s new qualifying format. He will be fighting for one of four available spots along with nine other drivers, including his teammates Jerry Toliver and Jack Beckman and 14-time Funny Car champion John Force.

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