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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Jan. 25, 2008) - The chances of NHRA drag racer Ron Capps racing his NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car head to head against NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip's NAPA-sponsored stock car are quite nil, but the duo, who share the same sponsor in their respective series, had their five minutes of fame together at a commercial shoot this week in Charlotte, N.C.
For two days in a downtown Charlotte studio, in front of a staff of 81 people on set, Capps and Waltrip sat, stood, posed, quipped and sparred with each other as they read their lines for a series of NAPA commercials which will air on network and cable television beginning in February.
For Capps, this was a whole new experience: having a trailer with his name on it, a makeup artist checking his "shine," and his own personal "stalker" making sure he did not stray far from the set, which was created to resemble a garage area (replete with both race cars) and the inside of a NAPA AUTO PARTS store.
"I get there and I get my own big motor coach with my name on it," said Capps. "I hardly went in it because I felt so guilty. And then there are the makeup people and everything that you would imagine being on a full-blown movie set. We had people who were assistants to other people's assistants. We had one guy who just followed me around who had to know where I was every single minute. And when they needed me he would come by and say '10 minutes out' and he'd follow me around and wouldn't let me get out of his sight. It was like I had a leash on all day. It was just amazing."
Although Capps and Waltrip had met before, this was their first close-up-and-personal encounter. "I had met Michael in a casual setting before, at a NASCAR race, but I had never really talked with him," said Capps. "It's much like John Force in NHRA. The fans I run into always ask the same thing, 'Is John Force really like the John Force we see on TV?' Yes, Force is the same Force. So, you wonder. But, let me tell you, when you see Michael on TV in those great NAPA commercials that are so funny, that is him all the time."
Always the professional, Capps made sure he memorized his lines in advance. "I had been sent the story boards of the commercials," Capps explained. "So I tried to memorize what they sent me and when I got there I discovered they had changed it, which threw a little bit of a wrench into it for me. Michael does so many commercials all the time, he was pretty smooth. And I was a little nervous because I was trying to get this stuff out that I had already memorized.
"There should be a lot of funny outtakes from this. I couldn't keep from laughing because Michael just cracked me up.
"Even before I got there I was laughing out loud when I was reading the story boards for the first time because I could picture Michael in them, and I could picture the commercials the way they were written. So I had a feeling they would be very funny and, now that the shoot is over, I know they're going to be great.
"Besides that, Michael is 6'3" or taller, and I'm 5'8" with heels on," laughed Capps. "I think it's going to make a couple of the commercials even funnier. A lot of times we were sitting in front of both cars in the shop, and then there were times we were standing, and I think the part where we first stand up together is going to be hilarious.
"The director is such a well-respected director. It was like being in one of those behind-the-scenes shows. For me to say five words would take a half an hour because he wanted it in every single way possible. He wanted a lot of emotion. He's worked with some great actors so he was really trying to get every bit out of me. And he had his work cut out for him because I had never done something this big. I kept telling him he reminded me of Woody Allen.
"NAPA is such a great company. For them to shoot the three commercials with Michael and me sitting around the garage is a great testament to both our series. I think it will introduce many people to NHRA drag racing who are huge NASCAR fans. When they see these commercials they're going to wonder who this new guy is with the NAPA team and what is drag racing. I think it's going to bring a lot of attention to our sport."
And Waltrip is not a novice to NHRA drag racing, Capps found out. "He knows a lot about drag racing," said Capps. "He made a comment that he'd met (Capps's DSR Funny Car teammate) Gary Scelzi before and he kept asking me about Scelzi being crazy. And I said, 'Yeah, he is. We do a lot of fun things together, Gary and I."
Was there some paint-scheme envy going on? "Michael kept turning around and looking at our car and going, 'Man, I like that paint scheme,' and I was getting the hint that maybe he wanted to paint his car the same way we had our car painted," Capps said. "His has the standard NAPA paint scheme he's had for a long time, and ours has all the wild stuff going back from the front end.
"If he wasn't as big as he is he would have crawled right inside that thing and sat in there. He said he had gone to Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School and drove an Alcohol Dragster 10 years ago and had the time of his life and that's all he kept talking about.
"For three 30-second commercials, we shot for 12-and-a-half hours. That's how long it took," Capps beamed. "We had a blast."
CAPPS VERSUS WALTRIP, ON STAGE
It's lights, camera, makeup - and even Woody Allen - as the NAPA AUTO PARTS racing duo of Ron Capps and Michael Waltrip shoot commercials this week in Charlotte
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Jan. 25, 2008) - The chances of NHRA drag racer Ron Capps racing his NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car head to head against NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip's NAPA-sponsored stock car are quite nil, but the duo, who share the same sponsor in their respective series, had their five minutes of fame together at a commercial shoot this week in Charlotte, N.C.
For two days in a downtown Charlotte studio, in front of a staff of 81 people on set, Capps and Waltrip sat, stood, posed, quipped and sparred with each other as they read their lines for a series of NAPA commercials which will air on network and cable television beginning in February.
For Capps, this was a whole new experience: having a trailer with his name on it, a makeup artist checking his "shine," and his own personal "stalker" making sure he did not stray far from the set, which was created to resemble a garage area (replete with both race cars) and the inside of a NAPA AUTO PARTS store.
"I get there and I get my own big motor coach with my name on it," said Capps. "I hardly went in it because I felt so guilty. And then there are the makeup people and everything that you would imagine being on a full-blown movie set. We had people who were assistants to other people's assistants. We had one guy who just followed me around who had to know where I was every single minute. And when they needed me he would come by and say '10 minutes out' and he'd follow me around and wouldn't let me get out of his sight. It was like I had a leash on all day. It was just amazing."
Although Capps and Waltrip had met before, this was their first close-up-and-personal encounter. "I had met Michael in a casual setting before, at a NASCAR race, but I had never really talked with him," said Capps. "It's much like John Force in NHRA. The fans I run into always ask the same thing, 'Is John Force really like the John Force we see on TV?' Yes, Force is the same Force. So, you wonder. But, let me tell you, when you see Michael on TV in those great NAPA commercials that are so funny, that is him all the time."
Always the professional, Capps made sure he memorized his lines in advance. "I had been sent the story boards of the commercials," Capps explained. "So I tried to memorize what they sent me and when I got there I discovered they had changed it, which threw a little bit of a wrench into it for me. Michael does so many commercials all the time, he was pretty smooth. And I was a little nervous because I was trying to get this stuff out that I had already memorized.
"There should be a lot of funny outtakes from this. I couldn't keep from laughing because Michael just cracked me up.
"Even before I got there I was laughing out loud when I was reading the story boards for the first time because I could picture Michael in them, and I could picture the commercials the way they were written. So I had a feeling they would be very funny and, now that the shoot is over, I know they're going to be great.
"Besides that, Michael is 6'3" or taller, and I'm 5'8" with heels on," laughed Capps. "I think it's going to make a couple of the commercials even funnier. A lot of times we were sitting in front of both cars in the shop, and then there were times we were standing, and I think the part where we first stand up together is going to be hilarious.
"The director is such a well-respected director. It was like being in one of those behind-the-scenes shows. For me to say five words would take a half an hour because he wanted it in every single way possible. He wanted a lot of emotion. He's worked with some great actors so he was really trying to get every bit out of me. And he had his work cut out for him because I had never done something this big. I kept telling him he reminded me of Woody Allen.
"NAPA is such a great company. For them to shoot the three commercials with Michael and me sitting around the garage is a great testament to both our series. I think it will introduce many people to NHRA drag racing who are huge NASCAR fans. When they see these commercials they're going to wonder who this new guy is with the NAPA team and what is drag racing. I think it's going to bring a lot of attention to our sport."
And Waltrip is not a novice to NHRA drag racing, Capps found out. "He knows a lot about drag racing," said Capps. "He made a comment that he'd met (Capps's DSR Funny Car teammate) Gary Scelzi before and he kept asking me about Scelzi being crazy. And I said, 'Yeah, he is. We do a lot of fun things together, Gary and I."
Was there some paint-scheme envy going on? "Michael kept turning around and looking at our car and going, 'Man, I like that paint scheme,' and I was getting the hint that maybe he wanted to paint his car the same way we had our car painted," Capps said. "His has the standard NAPA paint scheme he's had for a long time, and ours has all the wild stuff going back from the front end.
"If he wasn't as big as he is he would have crawled right inside that thing and sat in there. He said he had gone to Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School and drove an Alcohol Dragster 10 years ago and had the time of his life and that's all he kept talking about.
"For three 30-second commercials, we shot for 12-and-a-half hours. That's how long it took," Capps beamed. "We had a blast."
