Capps and NHRA Brut team air to start where they left off in Pomona

 
DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 1 OF 23
CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals
POMONA (CALIF.) RACEWAY
RACE DATE: FEB 9-12, 2006




CARLSBAD, Calif. (Feb. 6, 2006) - Ron Capps, driver of the Brut Dodge
Stratus Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing, has several important missions
as the 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season kicks off at the
CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals this weekend at Pomona Raceway.

Capps and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch came on strong in the last third of
the 2005 season to take the battle for Capps' first Funny Car crown to the
final event at Pomona. All three drivers in the closest Funny Car fight in
NHRA history went out in the second round, and Capps' teammate Gary Scelzi
took the title by just eight points over Capps. John Force came in third.

The California native's missions this weekend are to pick up where the Brut
Dodge team left off by qualifying high in the field, leaving Pomona with
good points and not letting preseason testing numbers by his competitors
affect the team's attitude and focus, as he and the Brut crew embark on
their quest to win the 2006 Funny Car championship.

"I feel very fortunate right now that there's not a whole lot changed on our
Brut Dodge team," said Capps. "I can tell you that 90 percent of my crew is
back and that excites me. The guys could not wait a week after last season
was over to get back on the track. And that's something you don't ever hear.
That's how much excitement there is for the '06 season to see if we can win
a championship.

"I've always said that you can't win the championship at Pomona in February,
but you can definitely lose it. And you just need to have a good race. If
you can win Pomona it's a great start, but there's not too many times you've
seen the winner at Pomona guaranteed a championship trophy at the end of the
year. In fact, it's been not the case more often. You really just want to
have a good start to the season."

Qualifying well at Pomona and the rest of the season is key, said Capps.
"Ace really concentrated on qualifying higher in the last third of last
season. You look at the eight points that we lost. There's a lot of ways to
look at it, and one of them is we might have won the championship if we had
gained those eight points in qualifying. You're going to see a drastic
difference, I think, in the way we qualify."

As for John Force's stellar numbers in preseason testing in Las Vegas and
Phoenix, Capps responded, "We know Force's team is a great team. The team's
three cars always run well, but I also want to remind everybody that
preseason testing is preseason testing. There are cool weather conditions
you may never see again, and there are a lot of things that are being tried.
There are a lot of guys who ran real hard in testing who were hurting a lot
of parts. And cars that leaked on the track. We know that once the season
starts we'll start getting fined and have points taken away for things like
that. So, you're going to see guys running a little bit different at the
national events.

"When you look back at the testing numbers, I know our team never went full
power to the finish line on all of our good runs. We ran several low 4.70
(-second elapsed times) and I was clicking it off before 1000 feet. Testing
is not an indication of how things are going to end up at Pomona."

Capps also expects this season to be even tougher than last. "You saw a lot
of teams improve their performance as the season progressed last year, like
Cruz and Tony Pedregon, and, of course, Del Worsham winning Indy," he added.
"Teams that may not have been one of the three battling for the championship
at the end of the year, but who sure finished convincingly. So, that tells
you it's going to be a very, very tough Pomona to kick off the new season.
You can't count anybody out. There are a lot of variables, with teams coming
in with new sponsors and new teams.

"We say it every year that it's going to be tough, but I truly believe this
is definitely going to be the toughest season in the history of Funny Car."

RON CAPPS QUICK FACTS:
* Second in 2005 Funny Car point standings, eight points behind champion and
teammate Gary Scelzi, 24 points ahead of third-place John Force
* Has three wins, four runner-up finishes in 2005 (St. Louis was his first
win for DSR in '05), won at Chicago 2 at Route 66 Raceway and Las Vegas 2
* Qualified No. 1 once in 2005, in Dallas; first time since Brainerd 2000
* Winner in Pomona 1 in 1998
* Qualified No. 9 at 2005 Winternationals; lost to teammate Whit Bazemore in
first round when oil tank split at starting line
* 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, 2000
and 2005
* He has 17 event wins in 37 final rounds to his credit
* His career best elapsed time (established during an event) is 4.694
seconds, set in 2005 in Dallas
* His career best speed is 329.02 mph (Chicago 2, '05)
* Age 40 (June 20, 1965); born and raised in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
* Lives in Carlsbad, Calif., with wife Shelley and daughter Taylor (9) 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 in 2005 after eight years with Don Prudhomme.
* Has tested for IROC Series and competed in Skip Barber Formula Ford, Dirt
Late Models and Go-Karts

***
Exclusive Offer for NHRA fans from BRUTŪ:
BRUTŪ Funny Car driver Ron Capps is signing a limited number of BRUT Shave
kits for giveaway to BRUTŪ and NHRA fans. How do fans get one? If they're
one of the first ten people each day to bring an original receipt showing
the purchase of any BRUTŪ product from their favorite store, like
Albertsons, to one of the BRUTŪ kiosks* at the Pomona Raceway February 9-12.
Please, limit one Brut Shave kit per family/receipt. Receipt must show store
name, product name, price, and date of purchase.
 
*kiosks open at 9 am Thursday­Saturday and 8 am Sunday