Ron Capps No. 1 Qualifier at Dodge NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil
LAS VEGAS – Fresh off a runner-up finish from the previous event, Ron Capps kept his momentum going by racing the Pennzoil/NAPA
AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to the No. 1 spot on Saturday at the Dodge NHRA Finals presented by Pennzoil. Capps earned the pole position when he sped through the 1,000-foot timers in 3.902 seconds at 327.98 mph during the second and final qualifying session to secure his first No. 1 qualifier of the season, and 25th of his career.
Capps will start Sunday with a first-round matchup against No. 16 qualifier Cruz Pedregon in pursuit of a third 2020 triumph. Not only will Capps be racing for the Vegas hardware, but he’ll be aiming to keep DSR’s Funny Car ‘hot streak’ alive. DSR’s four Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat pilots have been unstoppable all season, and each, including Capps, will be battling to pick up one last 2020 trophy for drag racing’s winningest organization on Sunday as they aim to ‘sweep the season’ by going undefeated on the year.
“A great job by (crew chief) Rahn Tobler, Dustin Heim and the guys,” remarked Capps regarding the team’s Q2 pass achieved in the NAPA back-up car. “We brought this car out under extreme circumstances for the final round in Gainesville and won, and then we brought it out again in Houston and came close to winning last Sunday. Honestly, we had never warmed the car up until today. Both those final rounds we didn’t get to warm the car up because we were under such pressure and time constraints.
Tobler decided to run this car and I kept telling him how much I like this car and I love driving it and my lights are good and it feels right. Low and behold, it went out and made a nice, safe run. We had some DSR parts we wanted to try on the first lap, so we had to back it down a bit and just get down there. And then everything was right to plan with the ‘NAPA Know How’ we talk about. We went up there and leaned on the tune-up and that number popped up. It probably had more in it, but at the time that’s what Tobler was trying to do. For me, I wanted to get a Camping World hat and obviously a win would be great, but to steal the No. 1 spot at the last race of the year is a big feather in the cap. Now time to do some big stuff tomorrow.”
Qualified: No. 1 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 16 Cruz Pedregon
The Results:
Q1: 3.958 E.T. at 324.20 MPH
Q2: 3.902 E. T. at 327.98 MPH (Four bonus points for quickest run of the session)
Bonus Points: Four
