Capps Looks Ahead to Chicago after Challenging Southern Nationals Weekend

Three-time Funny Car world champion Ron Capps entered the inaugural running of the NHRA Southern Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park seeking a fourth consecutive final-round appearance after winning two of the first four races on the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour and powering to a runner-up finish in Pomona, Calif., last month. Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team had an uncharacteristic weekend at the series’ first Valdosta outing, struggling to make it down the track throughout qualifying. Their weekend woes carried into Sunday, where Capps was up in smoke early while his opponent made a clean pass in the opposite lane, ending the 79-time race winner’s day after the first round of eliminations. Capps, who started the weekend with the points lead, will head into the sixth of 20 events ranked second in the Funny Car standings.

Capps’ first trip to the South Georgia facility opened with a tire-smoking run on Friday afternoon. During the day’s second session, he experienced a loss of traction yet again, placing him in the provisional No. 13 position to start Saturday. After sitting through a lengthy rain delay, which caused NHRA to pare the schedule down to one qualifying session, teams pulled up to the line that evening ready to throw down in the stellar, cool-weather conditions. The session also served as the first and only elimination round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge. Without the advantage of lane choice for the Mission Foods-backed race-within-a-race, the NAPA team found themselves in the unfavorable left lane. Like most of the nitro field, the NAPA team struggled to get down the troublesome lane with their 12,000-horsepower machine overpowering the track, forcing Capps to lift off the throttle. With qualifying wrapped up, Capps, who started race day from the pole in Gainesville, Fla., and last week’s Charlotte event, found himself in unfamiliar territory, starting from the bottom half of the field for the first time all year. As the No. 13 qualifier, Capps drew Chad Green as his first-round opponent. Starting from the left lane yet again, Capps was first to hit the gas, but his car immediately went up in smoke while Green clocked a 3.925 E.T. to advance.

“We had a bit of an issue with the left lane continuing to rear its head all weekend,” Capps explained after his first-round loss. “I’m sure Guido (crew chief Dean Antonelli) would’ve pulled back a little bit in that Q1 run when we were in the right lane on Friday had we known the left lane was going to be what it was. It was probably well on its way to an .85 or .86. And then Saturday, because we were in the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, and we didn’t have lane choice, we ended up in that left lane again. Obviously, there were a couple of cars that did make it down that lane today, so hats off to Safety Safari. They always seem to find a way to make the lanes as good as they possibly can be, but still, it was definitely the inferior lane during the first round this morning, and we just put ourselves behind the eight ball. The silver lining today was I got to go up to the line and cheer for Maddi (Gordon) in the quarterfinals. She’s been running so well, and it’s been fun to see what that team has been able to do in such a short period of time.”

After a busy back-to-back stretch that saw Capps and Gordon visit NAPA headquarters near Atlanta with his 75th anniversary NHRA 4-Wide Nationals diamond Wally trophy earlier this week, Capps is looking forward to the weekend off before the NHRA Mission Foods Series schedule ramps up with five races over seven weeks.

“We’re coming off a great run these last few races, and Guido felt really comfortable with the car leading into this weekend,” added Capps, the only repeat winner in the Funny Car category in 2026. “But sometimes, that’s just how it goes. That’s what makes the Funny Car class so tough. We have a weekend off before Chicago and the guys will be able to regroup, and then we kick off that stretch of summer races. It’ll be one of those things where, you blink and we’ll have run through several races, and you want to make sure you come out on the other side of that with the points lead like we had, or at least, high up in the standings.”

Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team compete next at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, May 15-17, where Capps returns as a two-time winner at the Joliet, Ill. facility.

Start / Finish: No. 13 / def. in first round
Points Standing / Total: No. 2 / 408 pts. (-3)

Next Race: May 15-17, Route 66 NHRA Nationals, Joliet, Ill.
How to Watch or Listen: FS1, NHRA.TV

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Ron Capps: @RonCapps28
Ron Capps Motorsports: @TeamRonCapps