Capps Earns Provisional Funny Car Pole at Route 66 NHRA Nationals (1 Viewer)

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DSR Chicago Friday Qualifying Report Route 66 NHRA Nationals Event 9 of 24 (Chicago) Route 66 Raceway Joliet, Ill. May 31 - June 2, 2019 DSR Chicago Friday Highlights: Ron Capps and the NAPA Brakes Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car team took top honors during day one of qualifying at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals Capps collected five bonus points for running ‘best of session’ in Q1 and second-quickest E.T. in Q2 Jack Beckman ran second-quickest in Q1 and Tommy Johnson Jr. was third-quickest to join their teammate in the top-half of the Funny Car field Antron Brown earned the provisional No. 2 Top Fuel qualifying spot by launching his dragster to the second-best pass of Q2 Capps Earns Provisional Funny Car Pole at Route 66 NHRA Nationals JOLIET, Ill. (May 31, 2019) – Ron Capps and the NAPA Brakes Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car team took top honors during day one of qualifying for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals, banking five bonus points as they picked up their first provisional No. 1 qualifier of the season on Friday night. Fresh off the heels of two back-to-back victories, the Rahn Tobler-guided NAPA Brakes team wasted no time flexing their muscles at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. In round one, Capps powered his Hellcat to an impressive session-best 3.893 E.T. Eighteen Funny Cars lined up under the lights for Q2 in an attempt to outrun Capps’ Q1 time, but no one could knock the 2016 Funny Car world champion from his spot at the top of a stacked field. For their part, the NAPA team laid down another striking pass, clocking a 3.933 E.T. which held up to be second-best of the session. “To (run low E.T. of the day) in the first session and have it hold up was pretty cool,” said Capps of the NAPA squad’s dominant performance in front of team owner Don Schumacher’s hometown crowd. “I actually let the car get close to the centerline and shut it off a car-length early so it was on an even better run, actually. “I saw Tobler come back a lot during the Q2 session after we watched a lot of really, really good cars not make it down. He kept coming back and de-tuning it and de-tuning it. I think he originally went up there wanting to run an 85 or 86 and we figured some of the heavy-hitters were going to throw down. When those guys weren’t making it down, by the time our pair came up, he made it so our NAPA Brakes Dodge Hellcat would just go down the track.” Capps is looking to add to his 22 career No. 1 qualifiers and is hoping to pick up his first of the 2019 season on Saturday. With two more qualifying sessions and cooler temperatures forecasted for day two, Capps knows his team will be playing defense in order to retain their No. 1 position heading into race day. “There’s chances of rain here and there tomorrow which means it’s going to be overcast. All we need with a track like this is the sun off of it. If the rain breaks and they can get it dry and we run, conditions are going to be better than they were today, without a doubt. That 3.89 is not safe and I think tomorrow will probably have better conditions.” Q1: 3.893 E.T. at 326.00 MPH (Three bonus points for quickest run of the session) Q2: 3.933 E.T. at 324.05 MPH (Two bonus points for second quickest run of the session) Bonus Points: Five

Driver Information: Top Fuel: ANTRON BROWN Driver of Matco's Tools for the Cause Top Fuel Dragster Matco's Tools for the Cause to benefit the Fisher House Foundation Q1: 3.784 E.T. at 320.89 MPH Q2: 3.753 E.T. at 320.74 MPH (Two bonus points for second quickest run of the session) Bonus Points: Two Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 2

LEAH PRITCHETT Driver of the Okuma Top Fuel Dragster Q1: 3.776 E.T. at 327.82 MPH Q2: 6.358 E.T. at 107.47 MPH Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 7

Funny Car:

JACK BECKMAN Driver of the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Q1: 3.940 E.T. at 325.92 MPH (Two bonus points for second quickest run of the session) Q2: 4.013 E.T. at 316.75 MPH Bonus Points: Two Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 4

MATT HAGAN Driver of the MOPAR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Q1: 4.004 E.T. at 318.24 MPH Q2: 7.540 E.T. at 87.38 MPH Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 12

TOMMY JOHNSON JR. Driver of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Q1: 3.951 E.T. at 323.04 MPH (One bonus point for quickest run of the session) Q2: 7.265 E.T. at 85.34 MPH Bonus Points: One Provisional Qualifying Position: No. 5