CAPPS QUIETLY REGAINS FUNNY CAR LEAD
Driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car, Capps disposed of Cruz Pedregon in the opening round of eliminations on a hot and tricky Pacific Raceways drag strip with a 4.206-second pass at 290.26 mph, then outran his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the second round using a 4.250/273.33 pass.
Facing Tim Wilkerson in the semifinal round was a tough draw, and he and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch knew it. As expected, it was a tight contest, with Wilkerson edging out Capps with a winning 4.243/281.60 lap to Capps' 4.291/284.21.
Ron Capps regained a solo hold on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car class points lead at
this weekend's NHRA Northwest Nationals, first by qualifying ahead of
Ashley Force Hood, and then by landing in the semifinals, where he
bowed out to Tim Wilkerson.
Driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car, Capps disposed of Cruz
Pedregon in the opening round of eliminations on a hot and tricky
Pacific Raceways drag strip with a 4.206-second pass at 290.26 mph,
then outran his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the
second round using a 4.250/273.33 pass.
Facing Tim Wilkerson in the semifinal round was a tough draw, and he
and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch knew it. As expected, it was a tight
contest, with Wilkerson edging out Capps with a winning 4.243/281.60
lap to Capps' 4.291/284.21.
"We came to find out it broke a clutch lever during that run," said
Capps. "We felt like we could have run another 4.21 or 4.22 and we were
going to have to because Tim Wilkerson has been tough all day. And that
was a big match-up.
"I've got to tell you, the most exciting part about this whole weekend
was the fact that we brought something to test and Ace was really happy
with it on Friday. He left it in for Saturday and now we're going to
leave it in for the rest of the season. He is ticked to death with it
and that makes me even more excited.
"The NAPA car is making so much power that he's had to kind of tame
everything down a little bit. And that's a good sign for later in the
year when we get some really good conditions at the upcoming tracks.
Right now were going to Sonoma (Calif., next weekend), where it's going
to be hot, much like it was this weekend, and then of course to
Brainerd (Minn., the race following Sonoma), where it'll be humid and
hot .
"For Ace to get a handle on what we tested here and make the runs we
made and go all the way to the semifinals and actually be second-low ET
for the first round and low ET of the second round was a huge
accomplishment.
"We do see the Countdown on the horizon. Even though we're not really
counting points at this stage, we are well aware of the importance of
leaving the U.S. Nationals with the points lead and those 20 bonus
points before the Countdown begins.”
Advertisement