[coverattach=1]CARLSBAD, Calif. (March 10, 2009) - Riding the wave of being undefeated so far in the Funny Car class of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Ron Capps is ready to keep on rolling at this weekend's NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway.
But the Funny Car veteran, who drives the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing, is well aware that this sport can be fickle at times. He's been there before. In 2007 he led the point standings by as much as 154 markers through the first 14 events before the new Countdown kicked in. His points margin was then reset for the playoffs and he ended the season fourth in the standings.
Which makes his and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch's determination to win their first Funny Car championship even stronger. They are not sitting back and enjoying their recent successes. Instead, they're focusing harder on winning every round.
"In our sport, any time you can have a streak it's amazing considering the competition," said Capps, who leads the field by 97 points after only two events. "If you had asked me after Pomona (season opener) if we had a chance to go two in a row, I'd have said I don't know but I certainly felt confident that we had a car that could do it.
"That's the great thing about NHRA drag racing. You never know what's going to happen, so when somebody does go on a roll it makes it that more impressive.
"It's kind of neat to approach this year with such single-mindedness," added Capps. "When I say that I mean approaching every run literally like it's the last run we're going to make. That, so far, has really paid off.
"Ace is a great leader. It's a different mindset for us to go into each race like that, but obviously it's worked. I think that it's definitely put me a little more at ease as a driver not having to worry about so many different things down the road that a driver can worry about and just focus on each run."
Capps was the Funny Car runner-up at the Gatornationals in 2000. He also won the event in 2006 and 2007 and went on to win the following event in Houston both years.
"When we won the Gators and went back to back and then won Houston I never would have thought that could have happened," he said. "So, anything is possible. What happens when you start running well is it puts pressure on other teams that race against you. And I've been in the other position where guys are hot and when it's your time to race them you definitely know it. So, you approach the race a little bit differently. You know you have to get after it, you know they're going to go down the track.
"I've been on both sides of the fence and I definitely like being on this side. It's great exposure for NAPA because that's what we should have done last year: given them at least a couple of wins. (Capps was winless in 2008, the first year NAPA AUTO PARTS came on board.) We feel like we're making up for lost ground and we are where we should be.
"One thing I've learned having won in Gainesville is that you take nothing for granted, especially the weather. More than likely, the conditions are not going to be mineshaft conditions unless you have a storm come in with cool weather because we're at the part of March where we have some sunshine, some humidity. If you look back at the elapsed times that won rounds when we won those two races there, they weren't stellar. We took what the track would give us and that's what I really love about racing with Ace. He knows when to race the race track and not your opponent."
RON CAPPS QUICK FACTS:
* No. 1 in 2009 Funny Car points, after winning the first two races of the season in Pomona, Calif., and Phoenix
* Round win-loss record in 2009 is 8-0
* Gainesville FC winner in 2006 and 2007; runner-up in 2000
* Qualified No. 13 in 2008 Gainesville, lost first round to Cruz Pedregon
* No. 8 in 2008 Funny Car points; two runner-up, five semifinal, four quarterfinal finishes, 13 first-rounds
* 2008 round win-loss record was 20-24
* Is tied with Tony Pedregon with longest qualifying streak among active Funny Car drivers: 41
* No. 4 in 2007 Funny Car point standings
* Led 2007 Funny Car point standings by as much as 154 points through 14 of the first 17 races of the season
* NAPA AUTO PARTS is primary sponsor for second straight season
* Joined Don Schumacher Racing in 2005
* Has three U.S. Smokeless Showdown titles: 1998, 1999 and 2002
* Third in 2006 final point standings
* Had class-best five wins in 2006
* Had three wins, four runner-up finishes in 2005 (St. Louis was his first
win for DSR in '05)
* 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 eight career No. 1 qualifiers, none in 2006, '07 or '08. One in 2009 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 27 event wins in 56 final rounds to his credit (26 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 round win-loss record is 341-255
* Capps' career record against 14-time champion Force is 18-41 in round wins. He's won 10 of the last 15 meetings against Force, and has won five of the last seven first-round match-ups over Force
* Age 43 (June 20, 1965); born and raised in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
* Lives in Carlsbad, Calif., with wife Shelley and daughter Taylor (7/25/96) and son Caden (7/1/01)
* Has tested for IROC Series and competed in Skip Barber Formula Ford, Dirt Late Models, Mini-Sprints and Go-Karts
SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, March 13 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, March 14 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, March 15 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Sunday, March 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of
qualifying highlights at 2 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, March 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will re-air 90 minutes of
qualifying highlights at 10 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, March 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a
30-minute news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET)
Sunday, March 15, ESPN and ESPN HD will televise three hours of coverage
starting at 3 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE (Analog feed):
Friday, March 13, 9 - 9:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 15 / Transponder 8K (11860
MHz, horizontal)
Saturday, March 14, 7:30 - 8 p.m. (ET), AMC 15 / Transponder 7K (11840
MHz, vertical)
Sunday, March 15, 6:30 - 7 p.m. (ET), AMC 15 / Transponder 7K (11840
MHz, vertical)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners'
interviews on Sunday.
But the Funny Car veteran, who drives the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing, is well aware that this sport can be fickle at times. He's been there before. In 2007 he led the point standings by as much as 154 markers through the first 14 events before the new Countdown kicked in. His points margin was then reset for the playoffs and he ended the season fourth in the standings.
Which makes his and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch's determination to win their first Funny Car championship even stronger. They are not sitting back and enjoying their recent successes. Instead, they're focusing harder on winning every round.
"In our sport, any time you can have a streak it's amazing considering the competition," said Capps, who leads the field by 97 points after only two events. "If you had asked me after Pomona (season opener) if we had a chance to go two in a row, I'd have said I don't know but I certainly felt confident that we had a car that could do it.
"That's the great thing about NHRA drag racing. You never know what's going to happen, so when somebody does go on a roll it makes it that more impressive.
"It's kind of neat to approach this year with such single-mindedness," added Capps. "When I say that I mean approaching every run literally like it's the last run we're going to make. That, so far, has really paid off.
"Ace is a great leader. It's a different mindset for us to go into each race like that, but obviously it's worked. I think that it's definitely put me a little more at ease as a driver not having to worry about so many different things down the road that a driver can worry about and just focus on each run."
Capps was the Funny Car runner-up at the Gatornationals in 2000. He also won the event in 2006 and 2007 and went on to win the following event in Houston both years.
"When we won the Gators and went back to back and then won Houston I never would have thought that could have happened," he said. "So, anything is possible. What happens when you start running well is it puts pressure on other teams that race against you. And I've been in the other position where guys are hot and when it's your time to race them you definitely know it. So, you approach the race a little bit differently. You know you have to get after it, you know they're going to go down the track.
"I've been on both sides of the fence and I definitely like being on this side. It's great exposure for NAPA because that's what we should have done last year: given them at least a couple of wins. (Capps was winless in 2008, the first year NAPA AUTO PARTS came on board.) We feel like we're making up for lost ground and we are where we should be.
"One thing I've learned having won in Gainesville is that you take nothing for granted, especially the weather. More than likely, the conditions are not going to be mineshaft conditions unless you have a storm come in with cool weather because we're at the part of March where we have some sunshine, some humidity. If you look back at the elapsed times that won rounds when we won those two races there, they weren't stellar. We took what the track would give us and that's what I really love about racing with Ace. He knows when to race the race track and not your opponent."
RON CAPPS QUICK FACTS:
* No. 1 in 2009 Funny Car points, after winning the first two races of the season in Pomona, Calif., and Phoenix
* Round win-loss record in 2009 is 8-0
* Gainesville FC winner in 2006 and 2007; runner-up in 2000
* Qualified No. 13 in 2008 Gainesville, lost first round to Cruz Pedregon
* No. 8 in 2008 Funny Car points; two runner-up, five semifinal, four quarterfinal finishes, 13 first-rounds
* 2008 round win-loss record was 20-24
* Is tied with Tony Pedregon with longest qualifying streak among active Funny Car drivers: 41
* No. 4 in 2007 Funny Car point standings
* Led 2007 Funny Car point standings by as much as 154 points through 14 of the first 17 races of the season
* NAPA AUTO PARTS is primary sponsor for second straight season
* Joined Don Schumacher Racing in 2005
* Has three U.S. Smokeless Showdown titles: 1998, 1999 and 2002
* Third in 2006 final point standings
* Had class-best five wins in 2006
* Had three wins, four runner-up finishes in 2005 (St. Louis was his first
win for DSR in '05)
* 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 eight career No. 1 qualifiers, none in 2006, '07 or '08. One in 2009 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 27 event wins in 56 final rounds to his credit (26 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 round win-loss record is 341-255
* Capps' career record against 14-time champion Force is 18-41 in round wins. He's won 10 of the last 15 meetings against Force, and has won five of the last seven first-round match-ups over Force
* Age 43 (June 20, 1965); born and raised in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
* Lives in Carlsbad, Calif., with wife Shelley and daughter Taylor (7/25/96) and son Caden (7/1/01)
* Has tested for IROC Series and competed in Skip Barber Formula Ford, Dirt Late Models, Mini-Sprints and Go-Karts
SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, March 13 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, March 14 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, March 15 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m. FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Sunday, March 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of
qualifying highlights at 2 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, March 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will re-air 90 minutes of
qualifying highlights at 10 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, March 15, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a
30-minute news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET)
Sunday, March 15, ESPN and ESPN HD will televise three hours of coverage
starting at 3 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE (Analog feed):
Friday, March 13, 9 - 9:30 p.m. (ET), AMC 15 / Transponder 8K (11860
MHz, horizontal)
Saturday, March 14, 7:30 - 8 p.m. (ET), AMC 15 / Transponder 7K (11840
MHz, vertical)
Sunday, March 15, 6:30 - 7 p.m. (ET), AMC 15 / Transponder 7K (11840
MHz, vertical)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners'
interviews on Sunday.
