Capps rolls Brut Revolution Dodge into No. 5 in Reading qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 20 of 23
TOYO TIRES NHRA NATIONALS
Maple Grove Raceway
Mohnton, Pa.
Race Date: Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

CAPPS ROLLS BRUT REVOLUTION DODGE INTO NO. 5 IN READING QUALIFYING

MOHNTON, Pa. (Sept. 30, 2006) - Ron Capps and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch
actually entertained thoughts of going for the Funny Car national
elapsed-time record here at the rescheduled Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, with
the outstanding record-breaking cool conditions Mother Nature presented to
the returning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series teams.

But, their attempt to earn those 20 bonus points fell short in the final
session, when the Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car smoked the
tires, slowing to an 11.534-second elapsed time at 74.73 mph. Capps set his
quickest time in the second round, a 4.717/317.42, which earned him the No.
5 spot, but it came at the expense of the Brut Revolution body, as he
skidded into the sand pit at the end of the track when the parachutes
delayed their appearance. A replacement body was attached for the final
round.

His first run produced a 4.764/323.97. Capps gained two points on John
Force, who qualified ninth, and is now 39 points ahead of the 13-time
champion.

"We're not sure what happened," said Capps, who also receives support from
Knoll Gas-Torco Race Fuels. "Something in the motor malfunctioned about 1200
feet. It was well on its way to a high 4.60. It just nosed over real hard. I
got out of the throttle and we don't know if it shifted the body or what it
did, but the 'chutes didn't come out. I had the levers all the way down and
off I went into the sand.

"I ended up reaching over my shoulder and grabbing a handful of the cable
itself and pulling on it. And, thank God, it came out right beforehand
because it knocked a lot of speed off and it just did a little bit of damage
to the nose of that Charger body. But we have a brand-new one upstairs (in
the hauler) that we'll use to get through this weekend and we'll have the
other one ready for Richmond (Va., next week's event).

"It could have been a lot worse. We saw a lot of guys have problems here and
this is not a place that you want to have a parachute problem, if any.

"We're just concentrating on Sunday. The media have been in our Brut trailer
all weekend asking if we were going to take a shot at the 20 extra points
because very seldom do you see a chance to back up a record on race day.
Here is one of the places where it could be done. So they wanted to know if
we were going to give it a shot. And that is not the way Ace runs the car.
However, he went up there with his chest out that time and said we're going
to find out what the track's going to hold. In case conditions are good
enough to go for it, I need to know if we can run a mid-.60 to a low .60. It
didn't want to hold it, so we're going to go back to our race-day setup and
concentrate on what we have to do, like we usually do."

Capps faces Phil Burkart Jr., in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

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