Capps qualifies Brut Dodge in final Vegas qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 5 of 23
NHRA SUMMITRACING.COM NATIONALS
THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS
Race Dates: April 15-17, 2005



CAPPS QUALIFIES BRUT DODGE IN FINAL VEGAS QUALIFYING SESSION

LAS VEGAS (April 16, 2005) - Ron Capps and his teammate Whit Bazemore were
in a unique position going into the final qualifying session today for the
NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas. Both were on the outside of the
16-car field.

The two were paired up in the final qualifying round and you could hear a
collective sigh of relief coming from the Don Schumacher Racing camp as both
drivers made it into the field: Capps, in the Brut Dodge Stratus Funny Car,
into No. 15 with a 4.989/304.87, and Bazemore into No. 12 with a
4.951/315.64.

"I'm thinking about that, at the starting line firing the car up. I said,
Man, you know what, I get paid to do this. If I wanted a less stressful job
I'd be on stage at Chuck E. Cheese for my kids. It's just a big team effort.
I felt like we kind of had a little bit of a race getting it into the show.
I'm so glad we're in. I'm going to sleep a little better tonight," he said
at the top end.

"It was just a strange weekend. The track conditions were so tough. We don't
know if it's the preparation that did it or what. It had always been a good
track. It's got a couple of bumps in it, but it was strange for everybody.

"It was not a great show for the fans until this afternoon. We're lucky to
get in. I'm up against my teammate and I'm trying to do everything the same
and at the same time we're trying to get into the show and Whit's trying to
get into the show and it was one of those moments. We do this for a living
and we expect stress at times, and that was one of those more stressful
times I've had in a long time. I'm just proud of the Brut guys."

Capps faces John Force in the first round of eliminations on Sunday.