NHRA: Chevrolet Notes and Quotes
1 March 1999
FUNNY CAR -- CAMARO Z28 -- FINAL ELIMINATIONSRON CAPPS, COPENHAGEN CAMARO Z28, was eliminated in the first round by Al Hofmann, 4.998/286.98 for Hoffman, 5.037/300.60 for Capps.
CAPPS: "As I've said before, we have made a large commitment to work on the 5-disc clutch because we think it will be the best in the long run. And we're still learning. It showed how consistent Roland (Leong, crew chief) can make the Camaro because it went 5.00, then 5.01 and a 5.02, and we ran 300 mph. The thing is very, very conservative...still, and we will work our way up instead of going up there and blowing the tires off at the hit of the throttle. We know we have a great Camaro body on the car; that's not what we're worried about. We're worrying about getting the clutch right. We're 110% behind Roland. You can't kick a guy when he's down and struggling and then pat him on the butt when he's doing good. You have to stay behind him when he's down and struggling and also when he's good. He's the reason this Camaro runs so good. Believe me, when we get to Gainesville they're going to be seeing the back of this Camaro quite a bit. It will pay off in the summertime. We'll go to Gainesville, where you lock the clutch up early and you have a track that will hold it; that's a place where you can fly. We will stay here and test it, get it right, pack it up and go to Gainesville....with a stop in Vista (Calif., location of Don Prudhomme's Raceshop) on the way."
Note: Ron Capps was the runnerup in last year's event here, in the first all-Camaro Funny Car final in NHRA history. Chuck Etchells won the event in his Kendall Camaro.
WHIT BAZEMORE, in the Kendall Motor Oil Camaro Z28 owned by Chuck Etchells, defeated Dale Creasy Jr. in the first round and will face Cory Lee in the second round.
PRO STOCK -- CAMARO Z28
KURT JOHNSON, ACDELCO CAMARO Z28, eliminated Ron Krisher and Steve Schmidt in the first two rounds, and will face Jeg Coughlin in the semifinals.