Capps snags No. 9 in U.S. Nats qualifying
DON SCHUMACHER RACING 2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES U.S. NATIONALS INDIANAPOLIS RACEWAY PARK ROUND 18 OF 23 Race Dates: Sept. 2-5, 2005 INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 4, 2005) - Ron Capps powered the Brut Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car into the No. 9 position in qualifying for tomorrowıs 51st running of the prestigious U.S. Nationals, a race he has not won in his 10 years of NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series competition. His 4.769-second pass at 322.34 mph was just one thousandth of a second slower than his teammate Whit Bazemoreıs 4.768/323.81. Bazemore ended up No. 8 and the Don Schumacher Racing teammates will face each other in first round of eliminations on Sunday for the sixth time this season. Capps has a 4-1 round win-loss record against his fellow stablemate in 2005. Capps posted his best qualifying time in the third of five sessions this weekend. His other passes were: 4.811/310.84, 4.888/315.93, 5.216/213.23, and a 4.900/307.51 in todayıs final attempt. ³Not too bad,² he said of qualifying in the quickest Funny Car field in NHRA history. ³In a couple of the runs I had a problem keeping it in the groove. In those runs, for the Brut Dodge to run what it ran - even the 4.900 in the last session - it would have been a mid-.80 had I been able to keep it in the groove. ³Itıs a tricky race track here. Both lanes are very tricky - you ask any driver. Itıs been really hard to see at night, but during the day the groove is very tricky to stay in. Itıs going to be an exciting day on Sunday. ³We donıt have lane choice and we have to race Bazemore. But I feel confident because I know those runs would have been at least half a tenth better, and I just have to make sure that I do my job and if I do my job and Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) and the Brut Dodge guys do what they have been doing all weekend, I think weıre going to have a great day.² Capps is second in the Funny Car point standings and potentially would not meet No. 1 in points Robert Hight until the final round.