Capps hot in Topeka heat, qualifies No. 4

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 9 of 23
O'REILLY NHRA SUMMER NATIONALS
Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.)
Race Date: May 26-28, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

CAPPS HOT IN TOPEKA HEAT, QUALIFIES NO. 4

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 27, 2006) - Under the intense heat of the Kansas sun today
at Heartland Park Topeka, Ron Capps, crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch and the
Brut Dodge Charger Funny Car team (with additional support from Torco Race
Fuels) demonstrated that they were ready for the hotter conditions of the
summer months.

With ambient temperatures in the 90s and track temperatures in the
130-plus-degree range, Funny Car points leader Capps posted the second
quickest pass of the final qualifying session for the O'Reilly NHRA Summer
Nationals, a 4.996-second elapsed time at 298.27 mph. That lap, plus his
three previous ones of 4.965/301.94, 4.883/300.60 (good for No. 4 position)
and 5.057/291.57 showed he deserved to be solidly planted in the top half of
the field.

"It was a great run," he said of the final pass. "I don't know if we have a
handle on it, but we have gone down the track all four runs. You look at the
Full Throttle award NHRA gives out, which pays for consistency during
qualifying, and we may have won that, I don't know. But the point is that we
are going down the track no matter what, especially now.

"I have talked time and time again about the heat and what we're going to
see during the summer. So, to end the qualifying session going down the
track in the hottest part of the day like we did, under five seconds, was
phenomenal.

"I'm happy. I'm still trying to get used to this Brut Charger when they drop
the body, but it's such a neat car to drive. I'm having a blast."

Capps faces No. 13 qualifier Cruz Pedregon in first round of eliminations on
Sunday.

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