Kelly
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"Wildest Ride In Racing" Keeps Ron Capps On His Toes
Current NHRA Funny Car Point Leader Knows His Brut Dodge Charger is Lethal
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (August 17, 2006) - Many contestants on the crazy "reality" television shows are being paid large sums of money to do wild acts. Whether it is eating worms or walking planks at 25 stories high or flying motorcycles in wild flips, the public is always curious as to what a human will do for fame or fortune.
But nothing can be as wild as piloting an 8,000-horsepower, nitro-burning NHRA Funny Car from zero to 330 miles per hour in less than 4.8 seconds down the quarter-mile drag strip. Trapped in the drivers compartment with a five-layer fire protective suit and helmet, the Funny Car driver tries to maneuver his wild beast with 5-Gs slamming against his body.
"I have driven a lot of different racing machines from sprint cars to stock cars to Top Fuel dragsters," said Ron Capps, driver of the BRUT Dodge Charger who leads the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings. "But I have to admit that there really is nothing like driving a nitro-fuel funny car. The power of the engine sitting right in front of you can stop your breathing for a second or two. But it also gives the driver an incredible adrenaline rush like nothing else I have ever being involved with."
Capps, the California drag racing veteran, comes to the "Indy 500 of Drag Racing," the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis set for Sept. 1-4 seeking a couple of firsts at the controls of his Funny Car. Capps looks for his first U.S. Nationals championship as well as his initial POWERade Drag Racing Series title.
Capps has captured a season high five races in 2006 as he heads to Indy for the 52nd running of drag racing's biggest event at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
"I really can't compare the funny car to any other racing machine," explains Capps, who expects a big surprise from his BRUT team for the drag racing fans at this year's U.S. Nationals. "Maybe the Outlaw sprint car is the closest. I was lucky enough to drive Tony Stewart's winged sprint car last year in Missouri and that is one wild ride. But I think my BRUT Funny Car is like an outlaw sprint car on steroids. You have so much power on the rear wheels that you steer it with the throttle more than the steering wheel."
Capps, a 22-time NHRA national race winner, finds a big difference from the Top Fuel dragster to the Funny Car even though they are equipped with similar supercharged, nitro methane-fueled V8 engines.
"The longer dragster has the engine in the rear and the long suspension means you have to point the car where you want it to go," says Capps, who has won NHRA national events in both types of cars. "You can't steer a dragster as quickly as you steer a funny car. The funny car has you sitting right behind the big motor and on top of the rear wheels. Things can get away from you pretty fast when the rear tires start to spin."
Capps has invited many of the world's top racers to jump behind the wheel of his BRUT Funny Car but they have always declined.
"I have asked many guys likes Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Vitor Meira, Scott Dixon, Danny Lasoski and others to drive my car at a test," Capps said. "They must have a lot of respect for our car because they have all said 'no thanks' to trying it out. I mean you think Stewart and Kahne have driven a lot of different cars and the same with Vitor, Scott and Danny. They loved watching the (drag racing) cars leave the starting line and race. But they don't have an interest in getting behind the wheel of a nitro funny car."
Capps, who competes this weekend in the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, has been lucky in regards of driving other racing machines.
"I have a good relationship with a lot of other drivers in other racing series," he said. "I have been able to drive an IROC car, Nextel Cup stock car, outlaw sprint car, open-wheel midget and formula road racing cars. It has been a great experience and has increased my racing background."
But Capps will admit that piloting his BRUT Funny Car is like nothing else in racing.
Nor for that matter is any type of reality show.
Current NHRA Funny Car Point Leader Knows His Brut Dodge Charger is Lethal
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (August 17, 2006) - Many contestants on the crazy "reality" television shows are being paid large sums of money to do wild acts. Whether it is eating worms or walking planks at 25 stories high or flying motorcycles in wild flips, the public is always curious as to what a human will do for fame or fortune.
But nothing can be as wild as piloting an 8,000-horsepower, nitro-burning NHRA Funny Car from zero to 330 miles per hour in less than 4.8 seconds down the quarter-mile drag strip. Trapped in the drivers compartment with a five-layer fire protective suit and helmet, the Funny Car driver tries to maneuver his wild beast with 5-Gs slamming against his body.
"I have driven a lot of different racing machines from sprint cars to stock cars to Top Fuel dragsters," said Ron Capps, driver of the BRUT Dodge Charger who leads the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings. "But I have to admit that there really is nothing like driving a nitro-fuel funny car. The power of the engine sitting right in front of you can stop your breathing for a second or two. But it also gives the driver an incredible adrenaline rush like nothing else I have ever being involved with."
Capps, the California drag racing veteran, comes to the "Indy 500 of Drag Racing," the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis set for Sept. 1-4 seeking a couple of firsts at the controls of his Funny Car. Capps looks for his first U.S. Nationals championship as well as his initial POWERade Drag Racing Series title.
Capps has captured a season high five races in 2006 as he heads to Indy for the 52nd running of drag racing's biggest event at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.
"I really can't compare the funny car to any other racing machine," explains Capps, who expects a big surprise from his BRUT team for the drag racing fans at this year's U.S. Nationals. "Maybe the Outlaw sprint car is the closest. I was lucky enough to drive Tony Stewart's winged sprint car last year in Missouri and that is one wild ride. But I think my BRUT Funny Car is like an outlaw sprint car on steroids. You have so much power on the rear wheels that you steer it with the throttle more than the steering wheel."
Capps, a 22-time NHRA national race winner, finds a big difference from the Top Fuel dragster to the Funny Car even though they are equipped with similar supercharged, nitro methane-fueled V8 engines.
"The longer dragster has the engine in the rear and the long suspension means you have to point the car where you want it to go," says Capps, who has won NHRA national events in both types of cars. "You can't steer a dragster as quickly as you steer a funny car. The funny car has you sitting right behind the big motor and on top of the rear wheels. Things can get away from you pretty fast when the rear tires start to spin."
Capps has invited many of the world's top racers to jump behind the wheel of his BRUT Funny Car but they have always declined.
"I have asked many guys likes Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Vitor Meira, Scott Dixon, Danny Lasoski and others to drive my car at a test," Capps said. "They must have a lot of respect for our car because they have all said 'no thanks' to trying it out. I mean you think Stewart and Kahne have driven a lot of different cars and the same with Vitor, Scott and Danny. They loved watching the (drag racing) cars leave the starting line and race. But they don't have an interest in getting behind the wheel of a nitro funny car."
Capps, who competes this weekend in the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, has been lucky in regards of driving other racing machines.
"I have a good relationship with a lot of other drivers in other racing series," he said. "I have been able to drive an IROC car, Nextel Cup stock car, outlaw sprint car, open-wheel midget and formula road racing cars. It has been a great experience and has increased my racing background."
But Capps will admit that piloting his BRUT Funny Car is like nothing else in racing.
Nor for that matter is any type of reality show.
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