Traction Issues Plague NAPA Team on Sunday in Epping

EPPING, N.H. (June 1, 2025) – Three-time Funny Car world champion Ron Capps was looking to the NHRA New England Nationals to kick off the grueling four-race June schedule on a strong note but struggled to find traction on the starting line Sunday morning, leading to a first-round exit. Still, the driver of the NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra feels confident his team will bounce back quickly when they return to Bristol Dragway next weekend where Capps is a class leader with seven Bristol wins.

The Ron Capps Motorsports team had trouble making it down the track during the weekend’s opening qualifying session on Friday at New England Dragway. In the second qualifying round, Capps had a parachute uncharacteristically pop out as soon as he stood on the throttle, but the two-time Epping, N.H. event champ stayed with it knowing there was a possibility for a rainout on Saturday and posted a 4.106 E.T. to put him in the No. 14 spot. In between dodging weather the following day, Capps pulled up to the starting line for Q3 where he clocked a 3.936 at 290.88 to move up three positions to 11th in the Funny Car order. In the weekend’s final qualifying round, the Dean “Guido” Antonelli-led NAPA team improved upon their Q3 numbers, running a 3.928 at 329.91 but remained in the No. 11 seed to start race day.

Sunday eliminations began with a first-round match versus No. 6 qualifier Alexis DeJoria. The veteran drivers had previously lined up opposite each other in eliminations three times prior this season with Capps holding a 3 – 0 record over DeJoria. Unfortunately for Capps, this time it was DeJoria who would score the round-win as his machine went up in smoke as soon as he stood on the throttle while she made a clean pass in the opposite lane to advance into round two.

Capps wasn’t the only top-tier driver to bow out early on Sunday morning. Reigning Funny Car world champion and No. 1 qualifier Austin Prock also fell victim to Sunday’s slew of first-round upsets, as did No. 2 qualifier Bob Tasca III and multi-time world champ Matt Hagan.

“We talk about this event and it’s one of the rare races we come in early,” Capps said, referring to the multitude of pre-race events and media appearances on his schedule leading into the race weekend, including a stop at the famed Bentley’s Saloon owned by local racing legend Bentley Warren. “We’ve got a lot of great support from the local NAPA folks in both the Boston area and up in Maine and New Hampshire, and this is one of those places we love coming to every year.

“Everyone in the Funny Car class was tested this weekend,” Capps added. “It’s a great track. We had extreme conditions all weekend – chances of rain, clouds in and out, temperatures up and down, and that’s when I brag about the NAPA Know How Guido has. We fought through qualifying and thought we had a good first-round match but unfortunately, we were first pair out in Funny Car, so we didn’t have a chance to watch any of the others run. And, as we later saw, many of the top teams also ended up going out first round. It wasn’t that the track was bad. It was probably actually better than everyone thought. Conditions were really good as we saw with some of those big speeds first round.”

Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team maintained their top five ranking throughout the Epping event and are eager to get back to Bristol, Tenn. for the next event on tour to continue to add more points to their total as they attempt to move up on the Funny Car leaderboard. Fortunately for the NAPA team, they won’t have to wait long as the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series will be back on track next weekend, June 6 – 8, for the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals where Capps is tied with Top Fuel racer Tony Schumacher as the winningest driver in Bristol Dragway history.

“Unfortunately, we lost early today,” Capps said. “But fortunately, we go right from here to Bristol where our team has had a lot of success in the past. We’ve got a lot of races coming up here over these next few months and we can start making some ground up.”

Qualified: No. 11 (3.928 E.T. at 329.91 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 8.903 E.T. at 84.79 MPH defeated by Alexis DeJoria 3.926 E.T. at 324.98 MPH

NHRA New England Nationals

NHRA New England Nationals

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