Capps Reflects on First Round Incident at NHRA Northwest Nationals

Three-time NHRA Funny Car world champion Ron Capps walked away unscathed from a violent explosion in the opening round of eliminations Sunday at the NHRA Northwest Nationals. The incident occurred after Capps pedaled his Ron Capps Motorsports hot rod numerous times in an attempt to regain traction in his first-round battle with Funny Car veteran Gary Densham. Capps’ fight to reach the finish line first came to an end when the 12,000-horsepower engine let go, launching his Funny Car body into the air at Pacific Raceways outside Seattle.

Capps’ weekend at Seattle started on a positive note when he laid down the fourth-quickest pass of the opening qualifying round, a 3.993-second effort aboard the NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra. In the highly anticipated Friday night session, Capps and crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli laid down a 3.886-second pass at 331.53 mph to move up to the No. 2 position, earning two bonus points in the process for the second-quickest pass of the session. The third qualifying session on Saturday counted as the first round of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, where Capps used a 4.028 E.T. to get past Matt Hagan and his 4.107 E.T. He improved slightly to a 4.019 E.T. in the #2Fast2Tasty challenge final round and final qualifying session but it wasn’t enough to beat Austin Prock. Still, Capps maintained his No. 2 qualifying position.

With a strong 27 – 7 first-round record at the Northwest Nationals, Capps rolled into his Sunday matchup with Gary Densham with lane choice and momentum from qualifying. He left the starting line first, but quickly lost traction and started pedaling his NAPA Auto Care entry. Densham had traction issues of his own. After Capps began to regain traction, a massive engine explosion launched his Funny Car body into the air. The car then made contact with both retaining walls, but Capps got it stopped and quickly jumped out of the car to let everyone know he was OK. He crossed the finish line with a 5.276-second E.T., while Densham won with a 4.974 E.T.

“First and foremost, I’m so glad that Guido and our NAPA Auto Care team work so hard on the safety aspect,” Capps said. “I know John Force is watching, and he’s a big reason for a lot of the safety things we have on the car. It beat my head around pretty good, but I’m fine. I’m just bummed as a team owner. Ruined a good Toyota Supra body. Unfortunately, I lost that round and we were looking really forward to vying for a win here.”

After catching his breath from the startling incident, Capps looked back on what happened from his perspective behind the wheel of the nitro-burning NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car.

“I knew that Guido was trying to run a pretty decent run to get us lane choice in the next round. It’s really my fault for over-abusing it,” said Capps, a four-time winner at Seattle with three Funny Car wins and his sole triumph in Top Fuel. “I’m usually pretty good at pedaling these cars. Just seeing Gary Densham out the window, I don’t think I waited long enough like I normally do to get it rolling again. You can’t abuse a nitro engine like that.”

Though he was frustrated, Capps is confident that his Ron Capps Motorsports team can bounce back for the second race of the abbreviated Western Swing, the NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

“We have the best parts in the world and the best people in the world,” Capps said. “The backup car that we have up in the trailer is a car that won a lot of races with the last couple of years. Guido and the guys are very well prepared. We’re as prepared as any team out here, if not more so. We’re already ready to run.”

Capps, who maintained his sixth-place position in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series points standings, will return to one of his two home tracks, Sonoma Raceway, for the Sonoma Nationals, July 26-28, to close out the Western Swing.

Start / Finish: No. 2 / def. in first round
Points Standing / Total: No. 6 / 601 pts.

Next Race: July 26 – 28, NHRA Sonoma Nationals
How to Watch or Listen: FS1, NHRA.TV

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