Capps grabs No. 6 in Phoenix qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 2 of 23
CHECKER SCHUCK'S KRAGEN NHRA NATIONALS
FIREBIRD INTL RACEWAY
CHANDLER, Ariz.
Race Date: Feb. 24-26, 2006


CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 25, 2006) - Ron Capps put together another series of
consistent passes this weekend to qualify No. 6 at the Checker Schuck's
Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway, the second round of the 23-event
2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Except for the first pass on Friday, which produced a slow 7.382/114.29,
Capps' laps hung in the 4.7-second range, including a 4.738/324.44, a
4.733/321.27 and a 4.755/324.20.

With the lane choice he and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch had been pursuing,
Capps will meet his teammate Whit Bazemore in the opening round of
eliminations on Sunday.

"We talk about it every weekend," said the 2005 NHRA Funny Car runner-up,
"and our main goal is to be there on Sunday, and that's more than half the
battle in a weekend. The competition is so tough you have to set your goals
right upfront and that's to qualify.

"Obviously, once you accomplish that, you need lane choice in the first
round. We've gotten by without having it (he reached the final round at the
season opener in Pomona, Calif., from No. 10), but it's obviously a big goal
for us and we accomplished that.

"You never want to run your teammates, and it's going to occur time and time
again for any multi-car team. I'd rather see them in later rounds, but it's
going to be fun.

"It's always been a good track," he said of the quarter-mile at Firebird
Raceway. "The race-day setup, if you will, that we've had on Saturday that
Ace and (Dan) Olson and the crew put in the car just goes down the track.
That 4.73-second pass that we made in that first run today was pretty much
in the heat of the day and it was an eye-opener for me, for sure. I wasn't
ready for it as a driver because we were supposed to be running a mid- to
high .70. It was awesome. It was so much fun.

"I'm going to sleep well tonight and wake up tomorrow hoping for a long
day."