RON CAPPS
Driver of the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car
NHRA Gatornationals Event Highlights:
2025 NHRA Gatornationals Recap:
Qualified third; Event runner-up (defeated John Smith in E1, Bobby Bode in E2, Alexis DeJoria in E3; defeated by Chad Green in E4)
Career Statistics:
668 races; 77 wins, 37 No. 1 qualifiers
Noteworthy:
Quotable:
“On a scale of one to 10, pretty much everything around us seems like it’s been at an 11. And usually, I love 11, but you go into the offseason and with everything we had to do as an organization with adding the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team and putting that group of guys together in such a short amount of time, it’s just been hectic, but its finally here and we’re excited to run as a two-car team.
“It’s the NHRA’s 75th anniversary and we’re leading it off with the Gatornationals, an event that has so much history. We tested here last month and again yesterday, and it’s been great. We got Maddi her license in the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster, and Guido (crew chief Dean Antonelli) and our NAPA Auto Care team had a great test as well. Conditions look like they’re going to be typical for Gainesville this weekend – warm and tricky, and this is one of those race tracks where teamwork is so important. We’re going to have a good weekend, I can feel it. We have a lot of support coming in with the Carlyle and NAPA folks, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Noteworthy:
Ron Capps Motorsports will debut as a two-car team for the first time with former Top Alcohol Funny Car standout Maddi Gordon piloting the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragste
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Driver of the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car
NHRA Gatornationals Event Highlights:
- Four-time event winner (2006, 2007, 2015, 2020)
- Three-time runner-up (2000, 2016, 2025)
- Two-time No. 1 qualifier (2021, 2023)
2025 NHRA Gatornationals Recap:
Qualified third; Event runner-up (defeated John Smith in E1, Bobby Bode in E2, Alexis DeJoria in E3; defeated by Chad Green in E4)
Career Statistics:
668 races; 77 wins, 37 No. 1 qualifiers
Noteworthy:
- 2026 marks Capps’ fifth year as an NHRA team owner (and 32nd season competing in the nitro ranks). Capps is seeking his second Funny Car title as an owner and fourth overall after winning the 2022 championship during Ron Capps Motorsports’ rookie season
- Looking to tie former boss Don Prudhomme’s five Gainesville Funny Car wins, which would make him tied for the second-winningest Funny Car driver in the track’s history
- Returns as the event runner-up after powering to his first of five final round appearances in 2025
Quotable:
“On a scale of one to 10, pretty much everything around us seems like it’s been at an 11. And usually, I love 11, but you go into the offseason and with everything we had to do as an organization with adding the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team and putting that group of guys together in such a short amount of time, it’s just been hectic, but its finally here and we’re excited to run as a two-car team.
“It’s the NHRA’s 75th anniversary and we’re leading it off with the Gatornationals, an event that has so much history. We tested here last month and again yesterday, and it’s been great. We got Maddi her license in the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster, and Guido (crew chief Dean Antonelli) and our NAPA Auto Care team had a great test as well. Conditions look like they’re going to be typical for Gainesville this weekend – warm and tricky, and this is one of those race tracks where teamwork is so important. We’re going to have a good weekend, I can feel it. We have a lot of support coming in with the Carlyle and NAPA folks, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Noteworthy:
Ron Capps Motorsports will debut as a two-car team for the first time with former Top Alcohol Funny Car standout Maddi Gordon piloting the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragste
Continue reading...
