Capps poised with NAPA Dodge to challenge for first U.S. Nationals title this weekend
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Capps ended questions last year about winning first championship,
turn his attention with NAPA Dodge to winning first U.S. Nationals
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Aug. 29, 2017) - As a California native, reigning NHRA Funny Car
world champion Ron Capps says he was born 30 years too late because he longs for
the 1960s and the hot rod-surfing era with those wild beach parties.
He spends as much time as he can on California sand but didn't like the time he
spent on the "beach" a year ago during the U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis when
his NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Powered by Pennzoil ended up on its roof
after one of his parachutes failed and he caught the safety catch net after not
being slowed enough by the sand trap.
That ended his Sunday when he was trying to win the fourth NHRA all-star race of
his career, he credits that mishap with going on to win his first NHRA Funny Car
world championship.
"That moment when we were upside down in the sand helped us win the championship
and start this year so strong," he said. "We had won five trophies before we got
to Indy last year and that happened, but (crew chief Rahn) Tobler and our NAPA AutoCare
crew went to our spare NAPA Dodge and we won the championship with it and then started
this year by winning with it six times in 13 races."
Now that Capps, who owns 56 NHRA titles, no longer has to answer when he will win
a season championship he is asked another one: when he will win his first U.S. Nationals
title.
"This year a lot of people ask me if I'll finally win at Indy, but I've won three
Shootouts there and last year we won a Mello Yello title when we had to finish the
final round from Brainerd (Minn.) that was rained out two weeks before that.
"But I've not only never won the U.S. Nationals, I haven't even gotten to the final
round," he said of his previous 21 times racing at the track outside of Indianapolis.
Like last season, Capps arrives at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Ind., about
2 miles from Don Schumacher Racing headquarters ranked first in points heading to
the finale of the 18-race Mello Yello regular season.
He'll start qualifying Friday night with a 136-point lead over John Force Racing's
Robert Hight, who won two of the past three events, and 169 ahead of DSR teammate
Matt Hagan.
Under the points format used at the previous 17 races, Capps would start the U.S.
Nationals having already clinched the regular season title that would give him 20-point
lead when the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff for the top-10 drivers
begins Sept. 15-17 near Charlotte.
But NHRA utilizes a unique points system for the U.S. Nationals where points are
worth one-and-half times the regular amount for Monday eliminations so a driver
could earn 191 points in the event instead of the normal 130.
"When we got out to such a big lead early in the summer that afforded us the opportunity
to try some things after we won six titles to get ready for Indy and the Countdown,"
said Capps, who has been atop the standings since the sixth event of the year.
"That might have cost us a little the past few races but it will pay off for us.
"We knew we would lose a bunch of points when the Countdown starts anyway when the
points are reset. It doesn't matter if we leave Indy leading by eight or 80 as long
as we end the regular season ranked first.
"Using those races to work on things will have been well worth it."
RON CAPPS, NAPA AUTO PARTS 2017 Dodge Charger R/T - 6x winner in '17, world champ
Pts Events Wins Rup Semi Qtr 1st rd Poles DNQ
W/L
2017 1st 17 6 2 2
4 3 0 0 36-11
CAREER 500 56* 52 91 102
181 21 19 663-425
* 55 FC/1 TF
Career best time, speed: 3.839 sec. (2017, Phoenix); 333.58 mph (2017, Phoenix)
INDY BY THE NUMBERS
Last event (Aug. 20), Brainerd, Minn.: Qualified No. 8, lost in second round to
Robert Hight
A year ago at Indy: Qualified No. 3, lost in semifinals to Del Worsham
Career at Indy: Wins 0; Runner-ups 0; Poles 0; All-star/Invitational event titles
3 (1998-99, 2002)
2017 NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNY CAR STANDINGS
(Official after Brainerd; 17 of 24 events: wins in parenthesis; DSR drivers in CAPS)
FUNNY CAR
1. RON CAPPS (6) 1,383 ----
2. Robert Hight (2) 1,247 -136
3. MATT HAGAN (3) 1,214 -169
4. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. (1) 1,180 -203
5. JACK BECKMAN (2) 1,160 -223
6. Courtney Force 1,012 -371
7. John Force (1) 954 -429
8. Tim Wilkerson 792 -591
9. J.R. Todd (1) 788 -595
10. Alexis DeJoria (1) 664 -719
DSR OPEN HOUSE PRESENTED BY PENNZOIL FOR RILEY HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN
The 12th annual DSR Open House presented by Pennzoil to benefit Riley Hospital for
Children is 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday at Don Schumacher Racing headquarters (1681 E.
Northfield Drive, Brownsburg) to kick off the U.S. Nationals held only 2 miles
from DSR.
DSR's seven nitro drivers and team owner Don Schumacher will be on hand to sign
autographs at noon after a performance by the Gordon Pipers bagpipe and drum corp.
In addition to a silent auction (see early items at dsr17.auction-bid.org), the
Open House features one of Indiana's biggest indoor car and bike shows organized
by the Indy Hi-Winders Car Club, nitro Cacklefest, various displays and vendors
and some of the area's most popular food trucks and Papa John's pizza.
COUNTDOWN TO THE COUNTDOWN
Many drivers consider the U.S. Nationals to be the "first" race of the Mello Yello
Series Countdown to the Championship six-race playoff that begins two weeks after
Indy near Charlotte.
Although Indy is the last of 18 regular season events, it will finalize the top-10
drivers who qualify to contend for their respective world titles, and points are
reset after Indy for the Countdown.
This week offers drivers a chance to earn a maximum of 191 points compared to 130
offered at the previous 17 races. Indy is the only Mello Yello event with five qualifying
sessions instead of four.
The quickest driver in each session earns four bonus points, second quick gets three,
third quick gets two and fourth quick gets one. Each round win on Monday pays 30
points instead of 20. Each driver making a qualifying attempt earns 15 and added
points are issued for the final qualifying order: 10 for first, nine for second,
eight for third, seven for fourth, six each for fifth and sixth, five for seventh
and eighth, four for ninth through 12th and three for 13th through 16th.
U.S. NATIONALS ON FOX
FOX national broadcast and FS1 will televise coverage of the U.S. Nationals, starting
with qualifying on Sunday, Sept. 3 on FS1 at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. (EDT). The broadcasts
continue on FS1 with two hours of live coverage of eliminations on Monday, Sept.
4 starting at 11 a.m., continuing live on FOX at 1 p.m.
This Week in Indy
(all times are EDT)
WEDNESDAY
Noon-2 p.m., Traxxas Nitro Shootout Fanfest & public press conference, Monument
Circle, downtown Indy
MELLO YELLO, TRAXXAS SHOOTOUTS FANFEST, PUBLIC PRESS CONFERENCE: All participants
in the Traxxas Nitro Shootouts will be at Monument Circle in downtown Indy on Wednesday
from Noon to 2 p.m. for a public press conference and driver autograph session that
is free and open to the fans.
FRIDAY
10 a.m.-3 p.m., Don Schumacher Racing 12th DSR Open House presented by Pennzoil
to benefit Riley Kids
2:30 p.m. DSR Open House silent auction bidding ends
8 p.m., Nitro qualifying (Session 1 of 5)
7:10 p.m., $20,000 Charity Challenge Round 4 to Benefit Riley Kids
"Papa John" Schnatter's 1971 Z28 Camaro vs. Leah Pritchett's 2017 Dodge Challenger
Drag Pack
SATURDAY
3:45 p.m., $100,000 Traxxas Top Fuel Shootout (Round 1)
4 p.m., Nitro qualifying (Sessions 2 of 5)
5:45 p.m., Shootout Round 2
7:40 p.m., Traxxas Top Fuel Shootout (Final Round)
7:45 p.m., Nitro qualifying (Session 3 of 5)
$100,000 TRAXXAS TOP FUEL NITRO SHOOTOUT: All three DSR nitro teams are qualified
for the $100,000-to-win Traxxas Top Fuel Nitro Shootout. One spot in each category
will be determined by a fan vote and lottery drawing on Wednesday during Fanfest
at Monument Circle in downtown Indy.
The top seed for Saturday's Top Fuel Shootout is DSR's three-time and reigning world
champion ANTRON BROWN, who will race the lottery winner in the first round. Other
first-round matchups are: LEAH PRITCHETT vs. Doug Kalitta, TONY SCHUMACHER vs. Brittany
Force and Steve Torrence vs. Clay Millican.
The top-seed for Sunday's Funny Car Shootout is DSR's reigning world champion RON
CAPPS, who will race the lottery winner in the first round. Other first-round matchups
are: MATT HAGAN vs. John Force, TOMMY JOHNSON JR. vs. JACK BECKMAN and Robert Hight
vs. J.R. Todd.
SUNDAY
12:10 p.m., $20,000 Charity Challenge Round 5 to benefit the Infinite Hero Foundation
"Papa John" Schnatter's 1971 Z28 Camaro vs. Leah Pritchett's 2017 Dodge Challenger
Drag Pack
12:45 p.m., $100,000 Traxxas Funny Car Shootout (Round 1)
1 p.m., Nitro qualifying (Sessions 4 of 5)
2:45 p.m., Shootout Round 2
4:40 p.m., Traxxas Top Fuel Shootout (Final Round)
4:45 p.m., Nitro qualifying (Session 5 of 5)
$100,000 TRAXXAS TOP FUEL NITRO SHOOTOUT: All four DSR nitro teams are qualified
for the $100,000-to-win Traxxas Funny Car Nitro Shootout. One spot in each category
will be determined by a fan vote and lottery drawing on Wednesday during Fanfest
at Monument Circle in downtown Indy.
The top-seed for Sunday's Funny Car Shootout is DSR's reigning world champion RON
CAPPS, who will race the lottery winner in the first round. Other first-round matchups
are: MATT HAGAN vs. John Force, TOMMY JOHNSON JR. vs. JACK BECKMAN and Robert Hight
vs. J.R. Todd.
MONDAY
11 a.m., U.S. Nationals championship eliminations to end the Mello Yello regular
season
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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 314 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 -
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Wolf (wolfj@shoeracing.com), 702.524.1368
Leah Vaughn (vaughnl@shoeracing.com), 618.516.1988
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