Capps makes Ace happy, qualifies fourth in Brainerd

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 16 of 23
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
BRAINERD INT'L RACEWAY
BRAINERD, MINN.
Race Dates: Aug. 12-14, 2005


BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 13, 2005) - Ron Capps made his crew chief Ed "Ace"
McCulloch a happy man today by qualifying No. 4 at the Lucas Oil NHRA
Nationals at Brainerd Int'l Raceway in four consistent passes. Driving the
Brut Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing, Capps claimed
that spot with the 4.767-second elapsed time at 323.89 mph he established in
today's final round.

His three other laps were just as stellar, including a 4.811/317.19, a
4.860/311.56 and a 4.784/318.39.

"It's a great weekend for the Funny Car guys in the sense that it's just so
close," said Capps who is fourth in points, vying for the Funny Car
championship and is within striking distance. "Everybody is throwing 4.70s
(ETs) out there. And in each session you didn't know what was going to
happen. The poor crew chiefs had either cloud cover come over at the last
minute or have it clear up when there was already cloud cover out there.
That's a nightmare for a crew chief.

"I feel proud of Ace. He's going through some health problems right now. You
can see he's a little bit worn out. We're trying to keep a good attitude
here and it helped his mood.

"I tell you, those runs will cure almost anything. It's good to see a smile
on his face.

"It's been a great weekend so far, and we hope to finish it off tomorrow.

"We have shown consistency so far in qualifying. If we can do it four more
times on race day we may have something at the end of the day for them."

Capps faces No. 13 qualifier Jim Head in first round of eliminations on
Sunday.