INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 1, 2025) – One day after racing to a runner-up finish in the PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout, three-time NHRA Funny Car world champion Ron Capps took his Carlyle Tools Toyota GR Supra to a quarterfinal finish at the NHRA U.S. Nationals Monday afternoon at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Though Capps hoped to add another milestone to his Indy history book, he held his ground in the points standings as the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series moves into the Countdown to the Championship portion of the season.
Capps jumped straight to the top three in Funny Car qualifying on Friday evening when crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli tuned him to a 3.877-second pass at 331.69 mph to end the day as the provisional No. 2 qualifier. He lifted early in the second session on Saturday, then earned three bonus points in the third session when his 3.998 E.T. was the second-quickest performance of the session. Sunday brought the PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout, which started in the fourth qualifying session. Capps left together with Daniel Wilkerson before powering to a winning 3.939 E.T., which also came with another two bonus points for being the third-quickest pass of the session. In the second round of the Callout, which didn’t count towards qualifying, Capps improved to a 3.912-second pass at 333.33 mph to knock out Jack Beckman. With $80,000 on the line in the final round, Capps left the line before Austin Prock, but he slowed to a 4.048 E.T. at 302.01 mph while Prock won with a 3.873 E.T. Capps ended qualifying in the No. 3 position.
On race day, Capps paired up with rookie Spencer Hyde. Capps was quicker on the starting line, a move that won him the round as he ran a 3.876 E.T. at 333.16 mph to beat Hyde’s quicker 3.869 E.T. on a holeshot. The roles reversed in the second round, as Capps charged to a 3.914-second pass at 333.66 mph, but it wasn’t quick enough to get around Blake Alexander’s starting line advantage and his 3.925 E.T.
“Typical Indy,” said Capps, who won the U.S. Nationals in 2022 and 2023 and finished runner-up in 2021 and 2024. “This place brings out every imaginable emotion that you either know you have or wondered if you have. It feels so much better than any place in the world when you win here, and it obviously feels much worse when you don’t win. Especially after we’ve tasted victory with four final rounds in a row and back-to-back Indy wins. And we had a great car. That’s the best part. It’s bittersweet. We won on a holeshot the first round in a very close race, and then to lose on one the second round, it just tells you how close Funny Car is right now.”
Capps rolled into Indy ranked fourth in the Funny Car points standings and maintained his position going into the six-race Countdown to the Championship.
“The silver lining right now is that we’ve got a great race car,” Capps said. “I brag on Guido and the guys and their NAPA Know How, but they’ve really got a good car. We talk about when you want to peak, and this is exactly when. It hurts worse when I say that because I lost on a holeshot. But going into the Countdown with the hot rod like we have, I think we can run for a championship. I always think that, but I think we really have a great chance.”
Capps will begin his pursuit for a fourth world title in two weeks at the 40th NHRA Reading Nationals presented by Nitro Fish, Sept. 12-14, at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Penn.
Qualified: No. 3 (3.877 E.T. at 331.69 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.876 E.T. at 333.16 MPH defeated Spencer Hyde 3.869 E.T. at 325.37 MPH
E2: 3.914 E.T. at 333.66 MPH defeated by Blake Alexander 3.925 E.T. at 326.24 MPH
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
The post Ron Capps Races to Quarterfinal Finish at U.S. Nationals, Sets Sights on Countdown Title Run appeared first on Ron Capp Motorsports.
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Capps jumped straight to the top three in Funny Car qualifying on Friday evening when crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli tuned him to a 3.877-second pass at 331.69 mph to end the day as the provisional No. 2 qualifier. He lifted early in the second session on Saturday, then earned three bonus points in the third session when his 3.998 E.T. was the second-quickest performance of the session. Sunday brought the PlayNHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout, which started in the fourth qualifying session. Capps left together with Daniel Wilkerson before powering to a winning 3.939 E.T., which also came with another two bonus points for being the third-quickest pass of the session. In the second round of the Callout, which didn’t count towards qualifying, Capps improved to a 3.912-second pass at 333.33 mph to knock out Jack Beckman. With $80,000 on the line in the final round, Capps left the line before Austin Prock, but he slowed to a 4.048 E.T. at 302.01 mph while Prock won with a 3.873 E.T. Capps ended qualifying in the No. 3 position.
On race day, Capps paired up with rookie Spencer Hyde. Capps was quicker on the starting line, a move that won him the round as he ran a 3.876 E.T. at 333.16 mph to beat Hyde’s quicker 3.869 E.T. on a holeshot. The roles reversed in the second round, as Capps charged to a 3.914-second pass at 333.66 mph, but it wasn’t quick enough to get around Blake Alexander’s starting line advantage and his 3.925 E.T.
“Typical Indy,” said Capps, who won the U.S. Nationals in 2022 and 2023 and finished runner-up in 2021 and 2024. “This place brings out every imaginable emotion that you either know you have or wondered if you have. It feels so much better than any place in the world when you win here, and it obviously feels much worse when you don’t win. Especially after we’ve tasted victory with four final rounds in a row and back-to-back Indy wins. And we had a great car. That’s the best part. It’s bittersweet. We won on a holeshot the first round in a very close race, and then to lose on one the second round, it just tells you how close Funny Car is right now.”
Capps rolled into Indy ranked fourth in the Funny Car points standings and maintained his position going into the six-race Countdown to the Championship.
“The silver lining right now is that we’ve got a great race car,” Capps said. “I brag on Guido and the guys and their NAPA Know How, but they’ve really got a good car. We talk about when you want to peak, and this is exactly when. It hurts worse when I say that because I lost on a holeshot. But going into the Countdown with the hot rod like we have, I think we can run for a championship. I always think that, but I think we really have a great chance.”
Capps will begin his pursuit for a fourth world title in two weeks at the 40th NHRA Reading Nationals presented by Nitro Fish, Sept. 12-14, at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Penn.
Qualified: No. 3 (3.877 E.T. at 331.69 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.876 E.T. at 333.16 MPH defeated Spencer Hyde 3.869 E.T. at 325.37 MPH
E2: 3.914 E.T. at 333.66 MPH defeated by Blake Alexander 3.925 E.T. at 326.24 MPH
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
Cornwell Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals
The post Ron Capps Races to Quarterfinal Finish at U.S. Nationals, Sets Sights on Countdown Title Run appeared first on Ron Capp Motorsports.
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