Capps starts 16th in Bristol

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 6 of 23
O'REILLY THUNDER VALLEY NHRA NATIONALS
BRISTOL (Tenn.) DRAGWAY
Race Dates: April 29-May 1, 2005


CAPPS TAKES A "PROVISIONAL" IN BRISTOL, WILL START 16TH

BRISTOL, Tenn. (April 30, 2005) - The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series does
not provide "provisionals" as does NASCAR racing. The closest thing to
earning a provisional in NHRA occurred today when Ron Capps made it into the
O'Reilly Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals field based entirely on point
standings.

Capps failed to qualify the Brut Dodge Stratus Funny Car after the car had a
clutch problem in the only round of qualifying held this weekend because of
rain.

When a second qualifying round was washed out today, the NHRA implemented a
rule it only used once before, at the World Finals in 2002, in which the top
10 in points were assured a place in the field, while the rest of the 16-car
roster would be filled by those not in the top 10 who qualified today. Capps
will start in 16th.

"It's nice that the NHRA is finally doing what we've seen being done in
other motorsports, where they just set the field if you can't run because of
the weather," said Capps, sixth in points, "instead of having to come back
on another weekend, when our schedules are pretty hectic as it is.

"The car just smoked the tires immediately in that one round. Something just
went very wrong in the clutch that wasn't supposed to happen and when it
does that you're just kind of a sitting duck.

"I tried to pedal it a couple of times, but it just didn't respond. We were
hoping there would be a second session so we could see if we had fixed the
problem.

"In a way, this may have worked to our benefit, as there was no guarantee
that we had actually fixed the problem.

"Weather conditions on Sunday are expected to be the exact opposite of the
last few days. But (crew chiefs) Ed 'Ace' McCulloch and Dan Olson have a
handle on it, and we should be good to go."

Capps faces No. 1 qualifier Eric Medlen in the first round of eliminations,
which begin at noon on Sunday.

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