Capps to race Late Model in Santa Maria on Saturday

DON SCHUMACHER RACING

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

CAPPS TO RACE LATE MODEL IN SANTA MARIA ON SATURDAY

CARLSBAD, Calif. (April 2, 2010) - Ron Capps, usually behind the wheel of
the 8000-horsepower nitro-fueled NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car in the NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series, will compete in the Bill Baker Memorial Late
Model race at Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway on Saturday, April 3.

In preparation for his sixth appearance in the Prelude to the Dream special
event at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on June 9, Capps will take to
Santa Maria's one-third mile clay surfaced oval to drive a "dirt" Late Model
decked out in NAPA AUTO PARTS colors. Qualifying for the event is at 5 p.m.,
with racing action beginning at 6 p.m.

"I've gotten to race in Tony Stewart's Prelude every year and I've always
shown up there without getting a chance to run a dirt car much in advance,"
said Capps, second in the NHRA Funny Car points standings after four of 23
events in 2010. "Our schedule gets so busy and of course now every year a
lot of the NASCAR guys have bought their own teams and they get out and
practice before the Prelude.

"I grew up in the Central Coast of California and have gone to Santa Maria
Speedway a lot as a kid. The promoter there is a big drag-racing fan so I
got a chance to run a Late Model there last year and get some practice in.
It turned out their opening night of this season was a weekend off for us
and I was given another chance to race a Late Model and get a little bit of
seat time before the Prelude coming up. And that is really important to me.

"Some of the local NAPA guys on the Central Coast are big NHRA drag-racing
fans and it will be a lot fun to visit the area where I grew up and see some
of the NAPA people, go to the NAPA stores, and say hi to some of the fans
that I don't get a chance to see throughout the year.

"The Prelude will bring out every bit of courage you have to race on
Eldora's half-mile. For me to go racing with these guys in the Prelude who
do it every weekend really challenges me. It's not something I do very
often. I feel in any race car, whether itıs road racing, dirt racing, or
drag racing, it's all about a 'seat of the pants' feel.

"I'm used to going 300 mph in four seconds, so racing in the Prelude is a
little bit out of my comfort zone. The more seat time I get behind the wheel
of a dirt Late Model, the better it will be for me when I get to Eldora in
June."

More information on the Bill Baker Memorial may be found at
http://www.racesantamariaspeedway.com/ .

Capps' next NHRA event is the 23rd annual NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston
Raceway Park, April 9-11.

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