JON CAPPS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS
Courtesy of Paul Smith Racing
Commerce, GA – The 2,000 mile flight from Las Vegas, Nev. to Commerce, Ga. was well worth it to Jon Capps.
He will make his second consecutive National Hot Rod Association Fuel Funny Car division start of the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Series, when he squares off with Mike Neff, the current NHRA Funny Car point leader in the first round of eliminations during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.
Capps, from the 702 area code of Las Vegas, Nev. completed qualifying today under constant threatening skies. Prior to the third qualifying session, team owner Paul Smith made the decision to pull the car out of the session, as the team believed track conditions would not yield better performance than their stout 4.166 elapsed time recorded in the cool conditions of Friday evening. The team was also solidly qualified in the 16-car field, so the decision to save crucial parts for eliminations was made.
“We were ready to pull into the burnout box when we pulled out of the session,” noted Capps. “Just as we pulled out, it started to rain a little bit. The next car down that lane, (Jack Beckman) lost traction after the short 30-minute delay. Paul made a great call to pull out of the session and prepare for a test run in Q-4.”
The fourth and final session resulted in a tire-shaking, mid 7-second pass. However, the Paul Smith Racing team believes they learned some crucial data for round one tomorrow against the current point leader.
“Zippy (Neff’s nickname amongst the racing community), is the man right now, but I really think we have more than a punchers chance tomorrow against him,” Capps stated. “He ran very well in qualifying today, (recording a 4.13 and 4.12 elapsed time respectfully), but I’ve got Paul Smith, and he does pretty well down here in Atlanta. We came here to compete, not just to qualify, so we will tuner her up and be ready for Mr. Neff and Team Force tomorrow morning.”
The Paul Smith Racing team also welcomed a new marketing partner for this weekend’s racing activities. XToursonline.com (http://www.xtoursonline.com) was started nearly a year ago on the premise that personalized service, experience, and attention to detail are our values. X Tours Founders have 2 decades of experience with unique sports and activities.
“We’re glad to have the guys at Xtoursonline.com onboard this weekend in association with Headman Hussler,” Capps said. “It’s been said often, but honestly in these economic times, it’s great to know there are companies who see the value in marketing in NHRA Drag Racing with a team like Paul Smith Racing. We thank them for their assistance this weekend and hope to provide a solid return on their investment.”
Paul Smith Racing has continued support from Valvoline, Rock Batteries, Boninfante Performance Clutch Parts and grinders, Fram/Autolite.
Fans can follow Jon Capps online on twitter @joncapps and Facebook. You can also keep up to date with up to the minute race results posted on the pages of http://www.dragracecentral.com. Final eliminations are scheduled to begin at 11:00 am EST / 8:00 am PST.
