Capps gunning for top spot in Reading

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 19 OF 23
TIRES NHRA NATIONALS
MAPLE GROVE RACEWAY
READING, PA.
Race Dates: Sept. 16-18, 2005

READING, Pa. (Sept. 13, 2005) - The Auto Channel reported that Ron Capps is not letting his fall to third
place get him down in one of the tightest battles for the POWERade Drag
Racing Series Funny Car championship in NHRA¹s history. He¹s as pumped up as
ever to get closer to his first Funny Car crown this weekend at the Toyo
Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.

Capps is still reeling a bit from his first-round ouster at the prestigious
U.S. Nationals on Labor Day, where he fell to his teammate Whit Bazemore and
dropped from second to third in the rankings, but he¹s no worse for wear as
the Brut Dodge Stratus Funny Car team debuts a new car this weekend.

With top contenders Robert Hight and John Force exiting in the first round
as well, Capps is only 36 points out of the lead. ³We¹re back to where we
were before Indy, basically, with five of us in a pretty tight battle, and
now it¹s just one less race to the end of the season. It¹s just tightened
everything up even more,² he says.

³We had the door open up a little bit and we couldn¹t finish the job.
Hopefully the end of the season doesn¹t come down to where we have to look
back and say this is where we could have won the championship.²

The battle is close. Just 55 points separate the top five in Funny Car
points (Gary Scelzi, Robert Hight, Ron Capps, John Force and Eric Medlen)
with five races left in the season. ³From here on out we¹re going to be
racing at some tough tracks,² adds Capps. ³Tracks that are fast, with good
weather conditions, and the possibility of gaining an extra 20 points by
setting the national ET record. It could be the deciding factor.

³You¹re going to see a lot of cars going for it in the last few races. And
Maple Grove Raceway has always been a place where national records have been
set.

³For the Brut Dodge team, we¹re bringing out a brand-new car which we ran up
until Bristol this year that we had taken to (chassis builder) Murf McKinney
and had it front-halfed, so it¹s basically a new car.

³I feel like it¹s a good time right now to load every bullet we can in our
gun and kind of see what happens.²

Capps has two runner-up finishes in Reading, in 1999 and 2000.

RON CAPPS QUICK FACTS:
* Third in 2005 Funny Car point standings, after 18 events, 36 points out of
the lead
* Has one win, four runner-up finishes in 2005 (St. Louis was his first win
for DSR in '05)
* At the 2004 NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove, Capps qualified third, lost
second round to Del Worsham
* Has two Funny Car runner-up finishes here, in 1999 and 2000
* A perennial fan favorite, Capps has driven and won in both Top Fuel and
Funny Cars since he began his pro NHRA career in 1995
* His best season points finishes were seconds in Funny Car in 1998 and 2000
* He has 15 event wins in 35 final rounds to his credit
* In 2003 he finished in the top 10 in the Funny Car class for the seventh
consecutive season.
* His career best elapsed time (established during an event) is 4.753
seconds, set in 2003 at Chicago 1
* His career best speed (established during an event) is 324.75 mph (Las
Vegas 1 '04)
* Age 40 (June 20, 1965); born and raised in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
* Lives in Carlsbad, Calif., with wife Shelley and daughter Taylor (8) and
son Caden (3)
* Is the subject, along with son Caden and the Brut racing crew, of a number
of Brut ads appearing this year in mainstream magazines, such as People,
Sports Illustrated, etc.
* New to Don Schumacher Racing this year after eight years with Don
Prudhomme.
* Has tested for IROC Series and competed in Skip Barber Formula Ford, Dirt
Late Models and Go-Karts

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