FUNNY CAR POINTS LEADER CAPPS HEADS 'HOME' TO SONOMA
SONOMA, Calif. (July 24, 2007) - For the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car points leader Ron Capps, racing at this weekend's Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals is like coming home.
Born in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and raised in the Bay Area, Capps plans to enjoy part of this week before and after the event with family now that he's clinched a spot in the top eight for the Countdown to the Championship playoff, which begins at the U.S. Nationals on Labor Day. But don't think the driver of the Brut "Test Drive" Dodge Charger R/T is getting complacent. Far from it. He hasn't won a Funny Car national event at this track since 1997, and he'd like to score another victory for his family and his Don Schumacher Racing team led by legendary Ed "Ace" McCulloch.
"It's great to clinch," said Capps, who is 149 points ahead of Robert Hight in the rankings. "It's great to know that we're in it, but we still want to roll into the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend as the points leader.
"We built those points up for a reason. If we want to test some things during a race weekend we could still do that, but, honestly, it's all about peaking at the right time, and we've said it before: We want to get to Indy and be peaking for the Countdown.
"Knock on wood, but we haven't had anything fall off the car, no oildowns, and the Brut guys have done a great job giving Ace a great car," during this grueling back-to-back six-race swing (Sonoma is the sixth), as well as all year. "Yeah, we lost to Ashley Force first round in Seattle on Sunday," Capps added, "but the car went down the track and it ran a pretty good number. A lot of people may not realize how good we still ran.
"If we had smoked the tires, that would have been a hard pill to swallow. Even when we lose we can't hang our heads too low. I hate to lose, but I try to pep Ace up and remind him that he's doing a great job."
As for the Sonoma event, "I am so looking forward to Sonoma and to the week off after it's over," said Capps, who has won three events this season, more than any other Funny Car driver. "I have so much family and friends that come to Sonoma and then we're all going down to a lake where I grew up right after that right down the road.
"Sonoma has always been kind of a home track for me and since Bruton (Smith, track owner) built the place up, I've tried to get friends and family to go there. It's a fantastic place and we're going to have some wine tasting after the press conference on Wednesday, and just do a lot of fun stuff off the track, but it won't keep us from continuing to try to keep up our momentum on the quarter-mile.
"We love to work with the people at Infineon, including p.r. guy John Cardinale and everyone else the track, because they take care of you. And we love what they do. Whether it's the go-kart race for the Children's Charities, the Eric Medlen dinner, or the press conference in the city, it's always a first-class effort."
RON CAPPS QUICK FACTS:
* Clinched a spot in the Countdown to the Championship at Seattle last weekend.
* Leading 2007 Funny Car point standings after back-to-back wins in Gainesville and Houston, another win in St. Louis, three runner-up, two semifinal, two quarterfinal, three first-round finishes and a DNQ in first 14 races
* Leads Robert Hight in rankings by 149 points
* Has only one win in Sonoma, in 1997
* Was runner-up twice in Sonoma: in 2002 (John Force) and 2005 (Gary Scelzi)
* No. 6 qualifier in Sonoma in 2006, lost to Whit Bazemore
* Third in 2006 final point standings
* Had class-best five wins in 2006: Gainesville, Fla., Bristol, Tenn., Topeka, Kan., Houston and Englishtown, N.J.
* Had three wins, four runner-up finishes in 2005 (St. Louis was his first
win for DSR in '05), won at Chicago 2 at Route 66 Raceway and Las Vegas 2
* 2005 Funny Car championship runner-up, eight points short of title
* Qualified No. 1 once in 2005, in Dallas; first time since Brainerd 2000
* Has seven career No. 1 qualifiers, none in 2006 or 2007 so far
* A perennial fan favorite, Capps has driven and won in both Top Fuel and Funny Cars since he began his pro NHRA career in 1995
* His best season points finishes were seconds in Funny Car in 1998, 2000 and 2005
* He has 25 event wins in 51 final rounds to his credit (24 national event wins in Funny Car, one in Top Fuel)
* His career-best elapsed time (established during an event) is 4.694 seconds, set in 2005 in Dallas
* His career-best speed is 331.61 mph (Pomona 1, '07)
* Capps' career record against 14-time champion Force is 17-38 in round wins. He's won nine of the last 11 meetings against Force, and has won the last four first-round match-ups over Force
* Age 42 (June 20, 1965); born and raised in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
* Lives in Carlsbad, Calif., with wife Shelley and daughter Taylor (10) and son Caden (5)
* Is featured, along with son Caden and the Brut Revolution racing crew, in a number of Brut ads appearing in mainstream magazines, such as People, Sports Illustrated, etc.
* New to Don Schumacher Racing in 2005 after eight years with Don Prudhomme.
* Has tested for IROC Series and competed in Skip Barber Formula Ford, Dirt Late Models, Mini-Sprints and Go-Karts
* Is the subject, along with teammate Tony Schumacher, in the behind-the-scenes TV series, American Dragster, airing on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD
