NHRA - Anderson and Capps Advance to Finals at Infineon Raceway

SONOMA, Calif., August 4, 2002 - A packed house at the newly renovated Infineon Raceway watched Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson and Funny Car competitor Ron Capps drive their Chevrolets to the final round today at the Fram-Autolite Nationals.

Anderson's Chevy Cavalier was the pole sitter for final elminations today. He defeated Tom Martino in round one, and in round two, knocked off Allen Johnson after setting both ends of the track record with a run of 6.780 seconds at 203.52 mph. In round three, Anderson took out V Gaines to set up a championship battle with Larry Morgan in what would be Anderson's sixth final round appearance of the season.

In the title heat, Morgan grabbed the advantage with a starting line holeshot and held off Anderson's Cavalier at the finish. The performance numbers for Morgan were 6.845 seconds at 201.50 mph, and for Anderson, 6.799 seconds at 202.45 mph. The margin of victory for Morgan was .0002 of a second or approximately one inch!

"This Chevy Cavalier was the best race car out here all weekend and we didn't follow through," said Anderson. "You have to take advantage of these opportunities when they are presented because they don't happen very often."

With his effort this weekend, Anderson moved into second place just 14 points behind first-place Jim Yates who lost in round one to Greg Stanfield.

By advancing to round three of the eliminator today, Jeg Coughlin Jr. moved into third place in the points standings just 52 points behind Anderson and 66 points behind Yates.

"This Jeg's Mail Order Cavalier was a great race car today and we moved up to third in the NHRA POWERade Championship," said Coughlin. "We're looking forward to continuing our charge to the top in Brainerd in two weeks. Our goal is to be in the top spot by the end of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals next month in Indianapolis."

In Funny Car, Chevy Camaro driver Ron Capps was six inches from victory when points leader John Force snatched it away. Both drivers left the starting line with identical .490 reaction times, but Force passed Capps at the stripe with a 4.953 e.t. to Capps' 4.956-second run. The margin of victory was .001 of a second.

"I thought I had him," Capps said after the run. "The car got out there and I never heard him. Our Chevy Camaro hooked up and made a great move in the middle of the track and then, right near the end, it stopped pulling as hard. I hit the 'chute and thought we had the win, but I looked over and his guard rail light was on. It was a heartbreaker. The winning margin was as big as a mile.

"Track conditions really changed for the final. We had a lot of clouds come in and the track cooled off. We gave the fans a heck of a race for their money, but it would've been nice to come out on the winning end. On the bright side, we're running well and I'm excited about going to Brainerd (Minn.) for the next race."

PRO STOCK

Winner - Larry Morgan (Dodge) 6.845ET/201.58MPH Runner-up - Greg Anderson (Chevrolet Cavalier) 6.799ET/202.45MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Greg Anderson (Chevrolet Cavalier) 6.791ET/203.34MPH
Top-10-
1. Jim Yates (Pontiac SC/T Grand Am), 940;
2. Greg Anderson (Chevrolet Cavalier), 926;
3. Jeg Coughlin (Chevrolet Cavalier), 874;
4. Warren Johnson (Pontiac SC/T Grand Am), 832;
5. Ron Krisher (Chevrolet Cavalier), 749;
6. Darrell Alderman (Dodge), 712;
7. George Marnell (Pontiac SC/T Grand Am), 690;
8. Mike Edwards (Chevrolet Cavalier), 654;
9. Bruce Allen (Pontiac SC/T Grand Am), 643;
10. Mark Whisnant (Chevrolet Cavalier), 621.

FUNNY CAR

Winner - John Force (Ford) 4.953ET/303.09MPH
Runner-up - Ron Capps (Chevrolet Camaro) 4.956ET/300.46MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - John Force (Ford) 4.864ET/309.20MPH
Top-10-
1. John Force, 1086;
2. Tony Pedregon, 987;
3. Gary Densham, 961;
4. Del Worsham (Pontiac Firebird), 932;
5. Whit Bazemore (Pontiac Firebird), 862;
6. Scotty Cannon (Pontiac Firebird), 819;
7. Ron Capps (Chevrolet Camaro), 767;
8. Dean Skuza, 667;
9. Johnny Gray (Pontiac Firebird), 661;
10. Tommy Johnson Jr. (Chevrolet Camaro), 632.

TOP FUEL

Winner - Doug Herbert 4.727ET/308.85MPH
Runner-up - Doug Kalitta 4.766ET/305.36MPH
No. 1 Qualifier - Larry Dixon 4.608ET/317.94MPH
Top-10-
1. Larry Dixon, 1,320;
2. Kenny Bernstein, 1,222;
3. Cory McClenathan, 942;
4. Darrell Russell, 915;
5. Tony Schumacher, 878;
6. Doug Herbert, 815;
7. Doug Kalitta, 804;
8. Andrew Cowin, 660;
9. Rhonda Hartman-Smith, 630;
10. David Grubnic, 628.