[coverattach=1]GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 14, 2009) - NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car points leader Ron Capps placed the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car in the No. 6 spot in qualifying for the NHRA Gatornationals, the third event of the year. Capps claimed victory in the first two and is the only undefeated NHRA pro driver on tour.
His 4.156-second pass at 293.15 mph came in Friday's second session in which he came alarmingly close to the wall. His other passes were a 7.901/80.24 in the opening session, a 4.227/287.84, and another near-wall-kissing lap of 4.188/289.63 in his last try.
"There are a lot of bumps out there," said Capps at the top end after his final attempt. "It did it again. It pulled a hard left. If you look at every run, the guys are all over the place. It's just demanding out here right now. The track temperature is over 115 degrees. I saw I was pretty close out the window and I thought I'd better throw her sideways.
"This race can easily turn into a battle of attrition and the little bit of heat and humidity we saw today took a lot of teams by surprise," added Capps, who will face Tony Pedregon in first round of eliminations on Sunday. "We fully expected to run a 4.09 or 4.10 in the final session, but when it hit the bumps it put a cylinder out. Sometimes you can't help that; you just have to try to go through there.
"We achieved our goal of qualifying in the top half of the field and having lane choice and that's always been our goal this year. Tough competitor in Tony Pedregon, but every morning I woke up this year - in Pomona and Phoenix - knowing we had a tough round every single round."
His 4.156-second pass at 293.15 mph came in Friday's second session in which he came alarmingly close to the wall. His other passes were a 7.901/80.24 in the opening session, a 4.227/287.84, and another near-wall-kissing lap of 4.188/289.63 in his last try.
"There are a lot of bumps out there," said Capps at the top end after his final attempt. "It did it again. It pulled a hard left. If you look at every run, the guys are all over the place. It's just demanding out here right now. The track temperature is over 115 degrees. I saw I was pretty close out the window and I thought I'd better throw her sideways.
"This race can easily turn into a battle of attrition and the little bit of heat and humidity we saw today took a lot of teams by surprise," added Capps, who will face Tony Pedregon in first round of eliminations on Sunday. "We fully expected to run a 4.09 or 4.10 in the final session, but when it hit the bumps it put a cylinder out. Sometimes you can't help that; you just have to try to go through there.
"We achieved our goal of qualifying in the top half of the field and having lane choice and that's always been our goal this year. Tough competitor in Tony Pedregon, but every morning I woke up this year - in Pomona and Phoenix - knowing we had a tough round every single round."
