Change is inevitable in racing as well as in life. For Ron Capps, change has become second nature.

Capps, for the third time since 2009, will be headed into the NHRA Full Throttle battle with a new crew chief calling the shots. Rahn Tobler replaces Tim and Kim Richards who replaced John Medlen last season who replaced Ed McCulloch.

To say Capps was taken aback by the Richards’ resignation is an understatement. Capps left Vegas eighth in the championship points despite the qualifying shortcomings. Last year under their guidance he reached the finals five times winning twice. Two of those finals came in the Countdown to the Championship, the NHRA’s version of the playoffs.

The Richards resignation comes on the heels of the team’s second DNQ dating back to last October. Team owner Don Schumacher told CompetitionPlus.com following the most recent DNQ last weekend in Las Vegas he requested the team test on Monday. He said Richards refused and resigned.

Change is inevitable in racing as well as in life. For Ron Capps, change has become second nature.

Capps, for the third time since 2009, will be headed into the NHRA Full Throttle battle with a new crew chief calling the shots. Rahn Tobler replaces Tim and Kim Richards who replaced John Medlen last season who replaced Ed McCulloch.

To say Capps was taken aback by the Richards’ resignation is an understatement. Capps left Vegas eighth in the championship points despite the qualifying shortcomings. Last year under their guidance he reached the finals five times winning twice. Two of those finals came in the Countdown to the Championship, the NHRA’s version of the playoffs.

The Richards resignation comes on the heels of the team’s second DNQ dating back to last October. Team owner Don Schumacher told CompetitionPlus.com following the most recent DNQ last weekend in Las Vegas he requested the team test on Monday. He said Richards refused and resigned.

“I was taken completely back, I had just gotten back to the trailer and had the time slip in my hand when a crewman walked up behind me and whispered what had happened,” said Capps. “I was shocked to say the least.”

Capps said that each crew chief he has worked with dating back to his time as a driver for Don Prudhomme has enabled him to become the driver he is today.
I want to be able to concentrate on the car and not the driver.

“I am a professional driver and my job has always been to do the best I can and to provide those tuners with the best feedback I could to do their job,” Capps said. “I would hope if you asked each one that I have worked with they would tell you that I did the best job I could for them. I always wanted to feel like they could always take me out of the equation and still know they have a consistent car.

“One of the things I’ve always been most proud of is the company I have been able to keep, not just the people who have tuned me. Being friends with the great heroes and legends of the sport, I’ve managed to try to absorb their lessons like a sponge. I may have 30 wins to my credit but there’s no way I could have had them without those crew chiefs and crew members. They have been crucial.

Capps told CompetitionPlus.com that Don Schumacher Racing works in a true team atmosphere when it comes to their personnel and sometimes on the surface this isn’t always visible.

“You look at the year Robert Hight barely got into the Countdown in his championship season. He and Jimmy Prock got tuning help from their teammates and went on to crush the competition. That’s happened here plenty of times. There’s a lot of this that goes on that the average fan never hears about. For instance, there were times when I gave up the full attention of Ed McCulloch when there was a new team that needed attention or something. But this is what’s best for DSR and I understand, accept and welcome that.”

Capps admitted Tobler was destined to be his crew chief last year when the Jack Beckman-driven team had an uncertain future in terms of sponsorship funding. He anxiously awaits the opportunity to work with Tobler but is remorseful of breaking up the chemistry between Beckman and his tuner. This remorse sent him to talk to Beckman once the personnel realignment was determined by Schumacher.

Capps believes he joins his newest crew chief with good chemistry in place. Also joining the team will be John Collins, who had worked with Capps at Prudhomme’s team and has assisted Tobler extensively.

“We have been around each other a lot and I have always felt as if we had a lot in common,” Capps said of Tobler. “Rahn Tobler is a really neat person. I feel the worse for Jack but I know he understands.

Regardless of who was right or wrong, Capps said he is better for the experience of working with Tim and Kim Richards. But now, he has to focus on the next race in Charlotte in order to deliver the kind of performances he believes sponsor NAPA Auto Parts deserves.

“You have to understand the NAPA sponsorship is special for this team, not that any of the others are less special … but they have been with us for a long time and they expect a certain level of performance and we need to perform,” Capps said. “I eat, sleep and breathe NAPA Auto Parts and do the personal appearances, and give up a lot of time at home because they ARE the dream sponsor to have. They are my lifetime sponsor as far as I am concerned.”