Capps Back Atop Standings with Strong Qualifying Effort at Route 66 Nationals

Ron Capps put his NAPA Auto Care Funny Car in position for a successful Sunday run at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, qualifying No. 2 and earning bonus points, before bowing out in a tire-smoking quarterfinal match with Chad Green at Route 66 Raceway outside Chicago. Capps, a two-time winner six races into the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, moved back into the points lead, which he shares with J.R. Todd.

Capps, who has raced at Route 66 Raceway since the inaugural event in 1998, wrapped up day one as the provisional No. 2 qualifier on Friday thanks to his 3.916-second pass at 330.31 mph in the second session. He earned two championship bonus points with that effort, as it was the second-quickest pass of the session. Capps drove into tire smoke early in the third qualifying session on Saturday, but he bounced back in the final session with a 3.952 E.T. at 326.79 mph, the third-quickest pass of the round, to pick up another bonus point and maintain the No. 2 position going into race day. Maddi Gordon, driver of Ron Capps Motorsports’ Carlyle Tools Top Fuel dragster, also qualified second.

Capps met up with Chicagoland’s own Bobby Bode in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday. Capps lost power as he approached the finish line, but his 3.978 E.T. at 301.47 mph was still more than enough to defeat Bode’s 4.659-second effort. A wild pedalfest followed in the second round against Chad Green. Capps moved first before both drivers went into tire smoke almost immediately. Capps worked the throttle to regain traction, but it was Green who recovered quicker and got the round win.

“We had a great weekend with both cars – our car and Maddi’s Carlyle Tools dragster – qualified No. 2, and we felt great going into Sunday,” Capps said. “The weather wasn’t like everybody thought it would be today. We had heat come in and the track got trickier. The second round of Funny Car was just bizarre. It was a matter of who could just get down the track. It was a learning curve for us on Sunday, but overall, another great weekend for Ron Capps Motorsports.”

Though Capps’ race day didn’t last as long as he would’ve liked, he found highlights in the off-track aspects of the weekend.

“This track is still considered one of the coolest places, and I remember the first year we came here. I still get that feeling when we come here,” Capps said. “I’ve always loved this track because it’s another home track of sorts with a lot of the family members of our crew members coming up from Indy. That’s very important to me. We were also able to host Dorman Products, a great partner with NAPA Auto Parts. We had a fun time with a lot of their customers and a lot of first-timers, which is always great when you can bring somebody out and introduce them to NHRA Drag Racing.”

Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team will now shift their focus to becoming the first Funny Car winners at the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals, May 29-31, at Maryland International Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland. Prior, they will compete at the IHRA Triple Crown in Reading, Pa., over Memorial Day weekend, kicking off a grueling schedule of five consecutive race weekends.

Start / Finish: No. 2 / def. in quarterfinals
Points Standing / Total: No. 1 / 468 pts. (tied)

Next Race: May 29-31, NHRA Potomac Nationals, Mechanicsville, Md.
How to Watch or Listen: FS1, NHRA.TV

NAPA Racing:@NAPARacing
Ron Capps: @RonCapps28
Ron Capps Motorsports: @TeamRonCapps