Capps happy with progress made with NAPA Dodge, maintains points lead at Seattle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Capps wins first round with NAPA, maintains solid points lead as team continues to refine their Dodge Charger at Seattle SEATTLE (Aug. 6, 2017) - Don't misunderstand Ron Capps when he says NAPA AUTO PARTS crew chief Rahn Tobler has been experimenting a little over the past few weeks during the Western Swing on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour. With the regular season title almost locked up, Tobler and assistant Eric Lane already are looking toward the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff that begins at Charlotte after the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day Weekend near Indianapolis. The plans turned out pretty good a year ago when Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car Powered by Pennzoil won the NHRA championship even though it did not win a title in the playoff. "We showed how consistent we could be last year in the Countdown," Capps said of when they advanced to four semifinals and two final rounds. "We've had a great season with six trophies already and that's afforded us the opportunity to do what we did last year." Capps advanced to the second round Sunday in the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways near Seattle but it was his only win in eliminations during the three-race Western Swing. But his last two losses were to Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. in first rounds at Denver and Sonoma, Calif. "I've said in every interview after we won that these teams would catch up to us and some of them have," Capps said. "We know the Funny Car championship this year will have to go through a DSR team and probably all four of us." Capps said Tobler has been focusing on his Dodge's clutch system. "We have to do this during NHRA race conditions and not on Mondays," said Capps. "That's the NAPA Know How I keep talking about Tobler having. "Don't be fooled by these last few races; he has the vision." Capps' lead over No. 2 Matt Hagan, one of his teammates, is at 158 points. But John Force Racing's Robert Hight, who has won the last two events including Sunday at Seattle, has narrowed the margin behind Capps to 166. FUNNY CARS Event winner: Robert Hight (John Force Racing) No. 1 qualifier: Hight, 3.8383 sec., 329.34 mph RON CAPPS, NAPA AUTO PARTS 2017 Dodge Charger R/T - 6x winner in '17, world champ Crew chief: Rahn Tobler; Assistant: Eric Lane SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATIONS First round: CAPPS (3.901 sec., 326.00 mph) def. Tim Wilkerson (4.232, 236.32) Second round: Tommy Johnson Jr. (3.957, 323.19) def. CAPPS (3.976, 311.41) QUALIFYING RESULTS Qualified: No. 6 FRIDAY: 4.175 sec., 241.41 mph, (first session); 4.019. 319.37, (second session) SATURDAY: 3.984, 314.24, (third session); 3.956, 317.34, (fourth session) SEATTLE BY THE NUMBERS Last event (July 30), Sonoma, Calif.: Qualified No. 12, lost in first round to Tommy Johnson Jr. A year ago at Seattle: Qualified No. 2, won in championship round over Del Worsham Career at Seattle: Wins 3 (1995-TF & career first, 1998, 2016); Runner-ups 4 (2001, 2006, 2008, 2010); Poles 2 (1997, 2012) 2017 NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNY CAR STANDINGS Unofficial after Seattle; 16 of 24 events: wins in parenthesis; DSR drivers in CAPS) 1. RON CAPPS (6) 1,330 ----- 2. MATT HAGAN (3) 1,172 -158 3. Robert Hight (2) 1,164 -166 4. JACK BECKMAN (2) 1,104 -226 5. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. (1) 1,081 -249 6. Courtney Force 951 -249 7. John Force (1) 877 -453 8. Tim Wilkerson 759 -571 9. J.R. Todd (1) 756 -574 10. Cruz Pedregon 601 -729 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About NAPA AUTO PARTS NAPA (www.NAPAonline.com) was founded in 1925 to meet America's growing need for an auto parts distribution system. Today NAPA has grown to more than 6,000 NAPA AUTO PARTS stores, 58 distribution centers with more than 500,000 part numbers in inventory and more than 15,000 NAPA AutoCare and AutoCare Collision Centers nationwide. About Don Schumacher Racing Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., fields eight professional NHRA teams. In Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the Matco Tools dragster driven by three-time world champion Antron Brown, the Papa John's Top Fuel dragster driven by Leah Pritchett and in Funny Car, 2011 and 2014 world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T, 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge driven by 2016 Funny Car world champion Ron Capps and the Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr. DSR has won 312 NHRA national event titles and 16 world championships. Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing - NAPA KNOW HOW - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jeff Wolf (wolfj@shoeracing.com), 702.524.1368 Leah Vaughn (vaughnl@shoeracing.com), 618.516.1988 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=5uv7snbab&m=1101041391262&ea=$submit@theautochannel.com$&a=1128551339609 This email was sent to submit@theautochannel.com by wolfj@shoeracing.com. 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