[coverattach=1]INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 6, 2009) - Only one lap of qualifying was held today because of a long rain delay, and Ron Capps was able to pull out a solid pass of 4.154 seconds at 299.73 mph to place the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car into No. 13 at the 55th annual U.S. Nationals. Entering today's single run, Capps was not qualified.
"What a day," said Capps, who has never won this prestigious race in his 30 career national event victories. "You talk about excitement. It's only natural. It's Indianapolis and it's the U.S. Nationals. The skies cleared up and we had basically one shot, and it was do or die to get into the show.
"We were the first pair out and for Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) to throw down a 4.15 (-second elapsed time) was just a great call by him and the NAPA guys. We did see some guys behind us who were able to run back and make some changes once they saw that we went down the track.
"It would have been nice to have been back of the pack a little bit, but we did it in the lane we're probably going to have tomorrow (right) in eliminations. We have a tough match-up against Cruz Pedregon in the opening round. He's been running great all weekend. We’re looking to help out our teammate Hagan."
Capps' Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan is in 11th place in the standings, 31 points behind Pedregon in 10th. Only the top 10 will vie for the Funny Car championship following the U.S. Nationals for the final six races.
"It's going to be tough, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's the U.S. Nationals and you should have butterflies here."
"What a day," said Capps, who has never won this prestigious race in his 30 career national event victories. "You talk about excitement. It's only natural. It's Indianapolis and it's the U.S. Nationals. The skies cleared up and we had basically one shot, and it was do or die to get into the show.
"We were the first pair out and for Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) to throw down a 4.15 (-second elapsed time) was just a great call by him and the NAPA guys. We did see some guys behind us who were able to run back and make some changes once they saw that we went down the track.
"It would have been nice to have been back of the pack a little bit, but we did it in the lane we're probably going to have tomorrow (right) in eliminations. We have a tough match-up against Cruz Pedregon in the opening round. He's been running great all weekend. We’re looking to help out our teammate Hagan."
Capps' Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan is in 11th place in the standings, 31 points behind Pedregon in 10th. Only the top 10 will vie for the Funny Car championship following the U.S. Nationals for the final six races.
"It's going to be tough, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's the U.S. Nationals and you should have butterflies here."
