NAPA teammate Rossi and latest IndyCar winner watches Capps nearly win U.S. Nationals Monday
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Narrow loss keeps elusive U.S. Nationals trophy away from Capps,
NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge clinches No. 1 seed for upcoming playoff
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 4, 2017) - Ron Capps made a big career move last year when
he won the first NHRA Mello Yello Series world championship of his 22-year career.
And the driver of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Powered by Pennzoil took
another big step toward a career first Monday when he advanced to his first final
round of the prestigious NHRA U.S. Nationals near Indianapolis.
But the No. 1 seed heading into the six-race Countdown to the Championship that
begins in two weeks near Charlotte, came with 26-thousandths of a second from winning
the title of the year's biggest race.
Reigning Funny Car world champion Ron Capps
Ron Capps was joined by NAPA AUTO PARTS IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi on Monday
the day after Rossi won the IndyCar race at Watkins Glen, N.Y.
advanced to the first final round of his 22-year career with the NAPA AUTO PARTS
Dodge Charger R/T Powered by Pennzoil team led by crew chief Rahn Tobler and assistant
Eric Lane and also won the regular-season title to earn the No. 1 seed for the six-race
Countdown to the Championship playoff that begins in two weeks near Charlotte.
"This race is such a big deal," Capps said. "Leaving here as the regular season
point leader going into the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship in Charlotte
is the silver lining on a cloud right.
"We're just a little disappointed. We had a shot at winning Indy and it only comes
once a year. You get so involved in this whole week and weekend of this historic
race, over 60 years of coming here, you get up that far and to lose a close race
like we did hurts a little more than most races.
"But I've never been so happy so quickly after a loss like that because I know going
into the Countdown we've got our racecar back. We've really sort of struggled through
the West Coast Swing and trying some things, but then found a few things on the
way that I think are going to help us in the championship run"
"But man, just all year long to come here and then you've got wait another year
for a shot at it."
ROSSI JOINS NAPA TEAMMATEAFTER WINNING INDYCAR RACE
Alexander Rossi, who won last year's Indianapolis 500 and just signed a contract
extension with Andretti Autosport, won his second career IndyCar race Sunday at
Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Rossi's banner weekend started with earning his first career pole and ended by attending
his first NHRA Mello Yello race with Capps.
FUNNY CAR
Event winner: J.R. Todd (Kalitta Motorsports)
No. 1 qualifier: Matt Hagan (Don Schumacher Racing), 3.799 sec., 338.77 mph - track
records
RON CAPPS, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T - regular season champion
Crew chief Rahn Tobler:; assistant crew chief: Eric Lane
MONDAY CHAMPIONSHIP ELIMINATIONS
First round: CAPPS (3.880 sec., 328.54) def. Alexis DeJoria (3.901, 331.94)
Second round: CAPPS (3.939, 300.60) def. Jim Campbell (6.609, 100.03)
Semifinals: CAPPS (3.940, 324.75) def. Jack Beckman (3.948, 322.81)
Final: J.R. Todd (3.923, 325.53) def. CAPPS (3.949, 325.53)
QUALIFYING
Qualified: No. 8
FRIDAY: 10.938 sec., 71.07 mph, (Session 1 of 5)
SATURDAY: 3.883, 329.67, (Session 2 of 5); 3.906, 308.57, (Session 3 of 5)
SUNDAY: 3.871, 330.55, (Session 4 of 5); 4.053, 262.13, (Session 5 of 5)
Pts Events Wins Rup Semi Qtr 1st rd Poles DNQ
W/L
2017 1st 18 6 3 2
4 3 0 0 39-12
CAREER 501 56* 532 91 102
181 21 19 666-426
* 55 FC/1 TF
Career best time, speed: 3.839 sec. (2017, Phoenix); 333.58 mph (2017, Phoenix)
INDY BY THE NUMBERS
A year ago at Indy: Qualified No. 3, lost in semifinals to Del Worsham
Career at Indy: Wins 0; Runner-ups 1 (2017); Poles 0; All-star/Invitational event
titles 3 (1998-99, 2002)
FUNNY CAR STANDINGS
2017 COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP
1. RON CAPPS (6) 2,100 -----
2. Robert Hight (2) 2,080 -20
3. MATT HAGAN (3) 2,070 -30
4. JACK BECKMAN (2) 2,060 -40
5. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. 2,050 -50
6. Courtney Force 2,040 -60
7. John Force (1) 2,030 -70
8. J.R. Todd (2) 2,000 -80
9. Tim Wilkerson 2,010 -90
10. Cruz Pedregon 2,000 -100
FINAL 2017 NHRA MELLO YELLO REGULAR SEASON
1. RON CAPPS (6) 1,530
2. Robert Hight (2) 1,344
3. MATT HAGAN (3) 1,280
4. JACK BECKMAN (2) 1,275
5. TOMMY JOHNSON JR. (1) 1,229
6. Courtney Force 1,072
7. John Force (1) 1,007
9. J.R. Todd (2) 959
8. Tim Wilkerson 902
10. Cruz Pedregon 730
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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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