TIME WILL TELL IF E-TOWN STRATEGY WORKED AGAINST CAPPS, NAPA TEAM

Ron Capps can look back to the race in Englishtown (NJ) as a plan which might have backfired should he trail Jack Beckman in the 2012 NHRA Funny Car championship battle by less than 20 points headed into the last race of the season.

Capps, and his crew chief, Rahn Tobler, passed up on an opportunity to set a new record after turning a fantastic 3.964 second run in the first day of qualifying. Had Capps backed up his under four second run, Beckman would not have scored an added 20 points this past weekend in Reading, Pa., by setting a new record; one which was slower than Capps 3.964 second pass. What remains unknown is if the conditions could have yielded a back-up run of 4.00.

"I can't speak for Rahn, but I can tell you we didn't want to back up the record," Capps said on Saturday in Englishtown. "Those 20 points could be whoever does it later in the year. If you had to run 3.95 in the Countdown, that's a pretty tough task. It leaves it there that someone can snag it later in the year.

"Not that we couldn't have gotten it," Capps said, "because he [Tobler] backed it down today. He didn't want to try it. He wanted to make sure we went down the track. It's not a fun Saturday night if you don't go down the track on the last run."

Capps was congratulatory to Beckman and his former crew, who now wrench the Funny Car Beckman drives.

"Hats off to all the guys on that team," Capps said. "As a fan of the sport, that car was fun to watch all weekend. As a driver we dream of weekends like that. But the gloves come off at Las Vegas and Pomona; that's going to be a lot of fun."

Capps now trails Beckman by 23 points after losing to Beckman in the second round at Reading. Despite being behind by 23 instead of three Capps isn't thinking too much about what he should have done several months ago; the thinking now is what to do in the final two races of the season.

"Everybody is going to have these races throughout the season, but it's unfortunate it happened to us now," said Capps.  "Everyone has a hiccup in the Countdown. I just didn't think we would.”

Capps opened the Countdown with a win, coupled with a 30 point lead when the field was reseeded, and at the time knew his 96 point lead wasn't invincible.

"I told the media and fans when we were up by 96 points and they were saying the championship was over that to never say that. This is exactly why. You have to stay grounded. This can happen in a heartbeat."

TESTING WITH TJ - Tobler and the team will test the NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car on Thursday in Indianapolis, but DSR team member and NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car titlist Tommy Johnson Jr. will be the test driver.

At Dallas, Capps said foreign material - mostly likely clutch dust - got into an eye and he was treated for it, but an infection developed in the eye. The infection has spread to the other eye and he was scheduled to see his ophthalmologist Tuesday.

 All articles and photography published in CompetitionPlus.com are protected by United States of America and International copyright laws unless mentioned otherwise. The content on this website is intended for the private use of the reader and may not be published or reposted in any form without the prior written consent of CompetitionPlus.com.

< Prev		Next >