Ron Capps Ready to Move On from Sunday’s First-Round Loss
CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 23, 2014) – After spending much of last week in bed with flu-like symptoms, Ron Capps felt better Saturday at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix when he was cheered by more than 3,000 NAPA AUTO PARTS employees and customers.
But after losing in the opening round Sunday in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event, he wasn’t feeling very well when his NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T tuned by crew chief Rahn Tobler and assistant John Collins lost traction and the race to Bob Tasca III.
“It just rattled the tires loose. We qualified ninth so we didn’t have lane choice, but looking back to Friday and Saturday I didn’t think one lane was better than the other,” Ron said. “I don’t think anyone expected lane choice to be any big deal because they were both good. The track ended up being a little better in the left lane.
“We expected Tasca to run what he did. Tobler did a good job. It just rattled the tires loose a little and I gave it a little pedal. There was a quick flash of fire when we pushed out a (cylinder) head gasket so we let off.”
Ron came up short of defending the Funny Car title he won at the track a year ago for Don Schumacher Racing and recording his fourth Phoenix win.
“Tobler and J.C. are helping with the Make-A-Wish car that Tommy (Johnson Jr.) is driving. They’re running great and made it to the semifinals.
“Don Schumacher hires talented people so they can move around and help teammates. It will benefit our car when we get to Gainesville, and we’ll concentrate on getting our NAPA Dodge back to the winner’s circle.”
The third of 24 Mello Yello events is the March 14-16 Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla.
FUNNY CAR
Event winner: Alexis DeJoria (Kalitta Motorsports)
No. 1 Qualifier: John Force (John Force Racing), 3.990 sec., 317.79 (both track records)
RON CAPPS, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 9
SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
First round: Bob Tasca III (4.090 sec., 312.42) def. CAPPS (4.411, 260.66).
QUALIFYING
FRIDAY: 4.188 sec., 251.95 mph, (Session 1); 4.089, 306.33; (Session 2); SATURDAY: 4.079, 312.78, (Session 3); 5.025, 150.43 (Session 4)
NHRA MELLO YELLO STANDINGS
(Unofficial, through Phoenix, second of 24 events; DSR drivers in CAPS)
FUNNY CAR
- John Force, 225
- Robert Hight, 159
- Alexis DeJoria, 156
- TOMMY JOHNSON JR., 136
- Del Worsham, 132
- MATT HAGAN, 129
- Bob Tasca, 124
- JACK BECKMAN, 92
- RON CAPPS, 88
- Tim Wilkerson, 84
Categories
Don Schumacher Racing View All
Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), the winningest team in drag racing history, has raced to claimed more than 340 NHRA national event victories and 17 Mello Yello World Championship titles. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana, DSR fields professional teams competing in both the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series and Factory Stock Showdown, including the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car driven by 2016 World Champion Ron Capps.