Capps claims fifth in Pomona qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2009 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 6 of 6 in Countdown to 1 playoffs
Round 24 of 24 for season
45th annual AUTO CLUB NHRA FINALS
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.)
Nov. 12-15, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net
 
CAPPS CLAIMS FIFTH IN POMONA QUALIFYING

POMONA, Calif. (Nov. 14, 2009) - Driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car
at the 45th annual NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., Ron Capps qualified No. 5,
posting his quickest pass on Friday of 4.076 seconds at 307.65 mph in the
second of four qualifying rounds for the weekend.

His other laps were a 4.149/302.08 on Thursday (No. 4), a 5.581/125.27
(No.3) and a tire-smoking 5.439/131.51 in the two sessions today. He will
face Bob Tasca III in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

By qualifying in the field (No. 3), Robert Hight clinched the Funny Car
championship today, and Capps will now compete for No. 2 in season-ending
points on Sunday.

"It's always our goal to qualify in the top half and get lane choice first
round," said Capps, who entered the event just 22 markers out of second
place. "Ace (crew chief Ed McCulloch) told me the first run today that we
were pushing the envelope pretty hard to see what the track would hold,
pretty much knowing that that would be the same kind of weather conditions
we would see in the first and second rounds on Sunday.

"We had the wick up pretty high in tonightıs run. We were looking to surpass
our national record run of 4.023 seconds, but it was just a little bit too
much. 

"It still gets me pretty pumped up that we have a car that can go out there
and have a shot at running a low 4.0, and when I see Ace jumping in the box
before we fire up I know he's thinking it can run better than what we set
the national record at.

"I was ready, I pulled my belts a little bit tighter and I got pretty pumped
up. And It was running great until it just pulled the tires loose. That's
just part of the game.

"Second place is our goal," added Capps, who has been a championship
runner-up three times in his career. "I'd like to be standing there up next
to Robert at the banquet. It would still be a feather in our cap to finish
second. It's been a great year.

"This is one of those years that you're not really excited to see end. You
are really still pretty pumped up. Conversely, it gets you even more excited
about what's coming up in a month and a half when we go preseason testing
for 2010. We have so many things going on and Ace has so many great ideas
that I think he's going to try tomorrow for next year that I can't wait to
get going again."

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