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LAS VEGAS (Oct. 27, 2007) - Ron Capps, fourth in the Countdown to One Funny Car standings of the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, netted the No. 6 spot in qualifying at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. Driving the Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T for Don Schumacher Racing, Capps posted his quickest pass of 4.783 seconds at 322.96 mph in the cooler late-afternoon final session today, the third quickest lap of that round.
His other passes included a tire-smoking 10.753/79.96 (DNQ), a 4.820/317.87 (No. 8) and a 4.796/323.58 (No. 5).
"It was another one of those weekends," said Capps, who is on the same side of the ladder as two of his Countdown competitors: No. 1 in points Tony Pedregon (qualified No. 2) and No. 2 Gary Scelzi (qualified No. 3) "Obviously, the Countdown has created so much excitement, and you can tell by us drivers. Everybody's counting points and seeing who qualified where and who's going to run who. It's hard to explain the drama of this Countdown to someone who is not in our shoes. You live your whole life wanting to do this.
"It's been an up-and-down weekend and Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) was really trying to tune the car up, as a lot of teams were. You get up here in Vegas, it's a little bit higher altitude and it's a great track, and the Brut guys and Ace did a hell of a job because he finally just said 'I gotta really get after this thing and it may not make it down the track.' You don't hear him say that too often, so we ran two 4.70 runs today in the middle of the day and that's key. We always focus on race-day setups and I think if we can do that tomorrow we're going to have a good hot rod to go the day."
Capps faces Phil Burkart in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday. Both Burkart and Mike Neff are driving for John Force Racing this weekend, along with series regular Ashley Force and of course No. 3 in the Countdown Robert Hight (No. 1 qualifier). "We've got the car that John Force usually drives and Phil Burkart's in it," said Capps, "and we have him first round. This Countdown is the reason John brought those cars out and that's part of all this excitement."
CAPPS NETS NO. 6 IN VEGAS QUALIFYING
LAS VEGAS (Oct. 27, 2007) - Ron Capps, fourth in the Countdown to One Funny Car standings of the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, netted the No. 6 spot in qualifying at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. Driving the Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T for Don Schumacher Racing, Capps posted his quickest pass of 4.783 seconds at 322.96 mph in the cooler late-afternoon final session today, the third quickest lap of that round.
His other passes included a tire-smoking 10.753/79.96 (DNQ), a 4.820/317.87 (No. 8) and a 4.796/323.58 (No. 5).
"It was another one of those weekends," said Capps, who is on the same side of the ladder as two of his Countdown competitors: No. 1 in points Tony Pedregon (qualified No. 2) and No. 2 Gary Scelzi (qualified No. 3) "Obviously, the Countdown has created so much excitement, and you can tell by us drivers. Everybody's counting points and seeing who qualified where and who's going to run who. It's hard to explain the drama of this Countdown to someone who is not in our shoes. You live your whole life wanting to do this.
"It's been an up-and-down weekend and Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) was really trying to tune the car up, as a lot of teams were. You get up here in Vegas, it's a little bit higher altitude and it's a great track, and the Brut guys and Ace did a hell of a job because he finally just said 'I gotta really get after this thing and it may not make it down the track.' You don't hear him say that too often, so we ran two 4.70 runs today in the middle of the day and that's key. We always focus on race-day setups and I think if we can do that tomorrow we're going to have a good hot rod to go the day."
Capps faces Phil Burkart in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday. Both Burkart and Mike Neff are driving for John Force Racing this weekend, along with series regular Ashley Force and of course No. 3 in the Countdown Robert Hight (No. 1 qualifier). "We've got the car that John Force usually drives and Phil Burkart's in it," said Capps, "and we have him first round. This Countdown is the reason John brought those cars out and that's part of all this excitement."
