Capps will start from No. 9 in Memphis

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 3 of six in Countdown to 1 Playoffs
Round 21 of 24 for season
NHRA MID-SOUTH NATIONALS
Memphis Motorsports Park
Oct. 2-4, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

CAPPS WILL START FROM NO. 9 IN MEMPHIS

MEMPHIS (Oct. 3, 2009) - Piloting the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car, Ron
Capps earned one qualifying bonus point and qualified No. 9 for the NHRA
Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park, posting his quickest pass
of 4.121 seconds at 306.19 mph in Friday evening's second session.

He garnered the bonus point, however, in Friday's opening round, where he
clocked the third quickest pass of of 4.149/298.07.

Today's runs were a somewhat squirrelly 5.208/141.77 (No. 9), and finally a
4.165/297.29. Each qualifying day in Memphis enjoyed autumn temperatures in
the low 70s. 

"Obviously, we wanted to qualify better," said Capps, No. 6 in the Countdown
to 1 playoffs standings. "We didn't run as good as we wanted to last night
and that was THE run, and everybody moved up.

"To be able to go down the track as consistently as we have is the key and
that's the reason we stayed and tested in Dallas (last Monday) and that's
already paid off. I can tell.

"We pushed the limit on the track the third qualifying run in the left lane
to see what it would hold. That's going to come in handy for tomorrow.

"Tomorrow is calling for a front to come in, with even a chance of rain
tomorrow night, which means it's going to be cool and cloudy, and you're
going to see track records fall, for sure. So, my point is, it's going to be
a completely different race track, with probably better conditions than we
saw Friday night."

He will face rookie Daniel Wilkerson, son of Funny Car racer Tim Wilkerson,
in the opening stanza of Sunday's eliminations. "In the big picture, you
have to get past your first round," said Capps. "You can't overlook anybody
and we have as tough a first round as it gets with Daniel, but when you have
chance to line up against (points leader) Robert Hight in the second round,
at this stage in the season, you have to try to take care of business
yourself. You can't rely on somebody else to possibly take out Robert, who
has the best car right now.

"So, for us to have that chance, we're going to have to come with our A game
the first round to get around Daniela and then try to go after Robert and
take those guys out ourselves. That's a big task. But, to be honest with
you, I don't think lane choice will be a big deal. I'm kind of excited about
it.

***