Capps deals himself a deuce in Vegas

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
No. 21 of 23
ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nev.
Race Dates: Oct. 21-23, 2005

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 22, 2005) - Ron Capps and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch
dealt themselves a deuce tonight in final Funny car qualifying, collecting a
No. 2 spot for Sunday's eliminations at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals
at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, a deuce is next to an ace, and
Capps has own of those in his deck as well.

In the quickest Funny Car field in NHRA history, Capps joined his teammate
and other Funny Car championship contender Gary Scelzi on the all-Don
Schumacher Racing "front row," as Scelzi nabbed his fifth season pole
position. 

Capps posted a 4.754-second elapsed time at 326.71 mph, while Scelzi
recorded a track record 4.746-second ET at a top speed of 327.90 mph.

He gained three points on Funny Car leader John Force, and now trails him by
just 54 points in the closest Funny Car championship chase this series has
seen, with just two races left.

The California native came into the final round in 11th place and was
looking for a strong move up the charts under ideal evening conditions.

"Before we made our run, I think we were back to 13th or 14th," he said. "It
was dropping fast, but it's awesome to be strapped in the Brut Dodge and
have all the confidence in the world in Ace and Ron (Thompson, assistant
crew chief) and all the Brut guys.

"They told me it was going to run a mid-4.70 basically, and it ran right on
a mid-.70 and we couldn't have run a more perfect mid-.70.

"We got beat out a little bit by Scelzi, but that's OK. We're a team here
and we're happy for those guys. Scelzi is on the opposite side of the
ladder. He's actually over there with Force, and we have Robert Hight on our
side.

"The main point was to go up and have lane choice the first round, so to get
up to No. 2 was a bonus. We knew we could use the points.

"What a turn of events. Everybody is trying to build power in this desert
air and then for Ace to go up there and do everything right, like he did,
made it so much fun."

Capps faces Tim Wilkerson in first round of eliminations on Sunday. His
other qualifying runs included a 4.866/318.09, a 4.817/323.27 and a
4.842/323.81.