Seventh Win of Season for Mopar as Capps Drives Dodge Charger Funny Car to Historic Norwalk Victory.
Drag racing and funny car enthusiasts from Brookhaven to Riverhead and all over Long Island witnessed the 10th annual NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, closed out what will likely be the toughest stretch of races the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series drivers will tackle this summer. The fourth consecutive weekend of competition concluded with Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car pilot Ron Capps proving that the HEMI® under the hood was up for any challenge as he beat the heat and padded his points lead with a final-round defeat of Courtney Force.
"Ron Capps is on an impressive streak in his Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car," said Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA – Global. "On behalf of Mopar, congratulations to the team, and we look forward to their continued success as the season unfolds."
"Courtney is always on her game, and I get [amped] up for racing anybody over there in that camp. We knew they'd be tough," said Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Capps, who was racing in the 95th final round of a nitro career that has included turns in both Funny Car and Top Fuel dragster. "We lost to her the last time we raced here, so today was good."
At last season's event, Capps was ousted in the first round by second-generation Funny Car driver Force. In their final-round meeting this time, Force got a jump at the starting line with a .044-second reaction time to Capps' .094, but the Mopar Dodge Charger was making up ground at each timer on the racetrack. Capps nipped ahead just at the finish line stripe, winning by a mere .004-second. The final times were 3.956-second at 317.49 mph to 4.010/314.17.
Capps has now wheeled HEMI power to four wins in five final rounds in the 2016 season. Three of his wins came in the past four weeks as he won Epping and Englishtown on back-to-back weekends, recorded a semifinals finish in Bristol the following week, and came to Norwalk just a few days later to snatch more hardware.
His road to the Norwalk final began with a 3.966/317.87 first-round triumph over a traction-troubled Jeff Diehl, and another win light came on for Capps in the second round as he rocketed to a 3.990/305.36 in his speedy Dodge to defeat Cruz Pedregon's slowing 4.654/184.47. Another sub 4-second pass was on tap as Capps utilized a 3.963/316.60 to easily defeat Robert Hight's oddly tardy .803-second reaction time and 4.018/275.79 in the third round of the day. That semifinal match was historic for Capps, who became just the sixth NHRA driver to compete in 1,000 elimination rounds.
Coming into raceday, no one on the property in Norwalk could question the capabilities of Capps' trusty Mopar-powered Dodge Charger. The veteran driver recorded four 3-second passes to qualify as the No. 2 seed, narrowly missing the top spot that he had occupied at the three most recent previous events.
"This weekend was all about great teamwork. Sometimes, I'm there as a driver and can save us – but more often than not, it's having a great car," said Capps. "Every run we made in our Dodge Charger was a 3-second run this weekend, and to have this thing make 3-second runs in this heat is as good as it gets. It was close down there at the finish line that last round, but we did it. This was one of the few tracks where I haven't won in my career, so I can tell you that there is relief and happiness to get this win."
With the Norwalk victory, Capps ties legendary Funny Car driver Don "The Snake" Prudhomme on the all-time win list with 49 of NHRA's coveted Wally trophies earned.
"That's crazy," admitted Capps, who drove for Prudhomme early in his career. "He was my mentor for nine years, and growing up, he was my hero. There were definitely pinch-me moments when I was driving for him, where I would look over and realize, 'Wow, I'm driving for Don Prudhomme.' Now I get to drive for Don Schumacher, a guy with the biggest heart who helps more people out here than you can imagine. Don gives everything he can to the sport of drag racing, and I'm so glad to get this win for him."
The hot racing surface in Norwalk peaked at 128 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, and the air was choked with water grains, giving the tuners a real challenge. In the first round of eliminations, two of the four Mopar Dodge Charger race cars were able to get the power to the ground, but Matt Hagan and the Rocky Boots/Mopar Express Lane Dodge and Jack Beckman in his Infinite Hero-branded Charger were sent home after they each came out on the wrong end of tire-smoking battles.
Like Capps, Bristol winner Tommy Johnson Jr. and the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger recorded a sub 4-second pass to emerge from round one. Johnson was a cool .058 at the tree to opponent Tim Wilkerson's .071, and he kept the edge for a 3.984/317.72 win over a 3.991/322.34. Johnson saw another win light with a solid 3.958/320.58 to shut out 2015 Funny Car champ Del Worsham in the quarterfinals, but Force earned her final-round berth with a 4.042/306.19 when Johnson was on and off the throttle in the semis, slowing to a 5.283/153.37.
"It was a really good weekend here in Norwalk," said Johnson, who moved up to No. 5 in the Funny Car standings. "Coming off the win in Bristol, we definitely wanted to continue that – but we're still happy with the result. Well, happy but disappointed at the same time. The car is really running well, and I'm just really happy with the whole weekend and our nice string of solid runs. We'll learn from that and adjust for the rest of the summer."