Capps No. 2 in Gateway qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 12 of 23
NHRA NATIONALS
GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
MADISON, ILL.
Race Dates: June 24-26, 2005


Madison, Ill. (June 25, 2005) - Ron Capps made it an all-Don Schumacher
Racing "front row" tonight by qualifying second to his teammate Gary Scelzi
in a dramatic showing of team spirit and unity, as the third member of the
DSR Funny Car triumvirate, Whit Bazemore, also qualified in the top half, in
sixth.

Capps drove the Brut Dodge Stratus Funny Car to a stout pass of 4.799
seconds at 323.35 mph in the final qualifying session and joined the entire
DSR team in jubilation.

The first three runs under hot and humid conditions here produced a
5.447/229.74, a 4.902/310.05 and a 4.844/317.87.

Capps has the power to help Scelzi in the championship hunt by eliminating
his fierce rival for the crown, John Force, in first round of eliminations
on Sunday.

While crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch recuperates from surgery in
Indianapolis, ex-Matco Tools chief mechanic Ronnie Thompson is standing in
for him. Thompson left Bazemore's team at the end of last year to take on
crew chief duties with a new team. That plan did not work out and Don
Schumacher recruited him to step in for Ace this weekend.

All the DSR crew chiefs were on hand to help. "With Zippy (Scelzi's crew
chief Mike Neff) and Ronnie Thompson, and the Okuharas (Todd and Scott)
helping out while Ace is at home it's been a great effort," said Capps. "I
can't wait to have him back. We have a heck of a team building right now.
It's a lot of fun. 

"It's been awesome. I called it Alpha Sigma Shoe. It's like a fraternity. We
have all these young crew chiefs. Ace is at home getting better and Don
Schumacher has done a great job. Ronnie Thompson jumped in and has been
methodical every time. He told me how the Brut Dodge was going to run and
he's been just spot on. He said it was going to run a .78 or .79 in that
last pass and that 's what it did.

"It's just been a great car. I won the inaugural race here, so it's a great
place to come back to for me. I tell you, I couldn't be happier for
everybody."

On facing Force, who qualified 15th, in the first round: "It doesn't matter
where he qualifies, he's a 13-time champion, so he's always a threat. He may
be struggling a little, but you can't overlook that team. Conversely, we
have a great team and we've had good runs in qualifying all weekend, so
we'll be strong and the Brut car will run great tomorrow."