World champ, points leader Capps, NAPA Dodge on cusp of pole; Schumacher, Brown 2-3 in Top Fuel but Torrence extends lead
ENNIS, TX – Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Powered by Pennzoil are on the cusp of 
winning their first No. 1 qualifying position of the year, and it couldn’t come at a better time if it holds up after Saturday’s last two qualifying sessions.
Capps and the NAPA AutoCare team led by crew chief Rahn Tobler and assistant Eric Lane uncorked a time of 3.872 seconds at 329.58 mph during Friday’s early evening session to earn three qualifying bonus points.
“We didn’t get down the track on our first run,” Capps said of an early 8.981. “But Tobler, Eric and our NAPA AutoCare guys did a great job getting our Dodge ready on the next one.”
If it holds after Saturday’s sessions at 2 and 5 p.m. (CDT), it will be Capps’ first pole since June of last year.
“NAPA team just went to No. 1 which we haven’t done in a long time,” said Capps the reigning world champion and current points leader with eight event titles this year.
“I know we are not known to be low qualifier on these cool condition tracks, but we went 3.87. We got the three bonus points. I know that doesn’t sound like much but, trust me, those little points are important.
“It’s going to be warm tomorrow so we’re not sure we can run quicker than that but on Sunday, it’s going to be in the high-60s and records will fall. It will be fast. I’ve got Rahn Tobler so I think we’ll be alright.”
That allowed him to extend his points lead to 49 over Robert Hight of John Force Racing in the NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex near Dallas in the 22nd of 24 events of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series and fourth of sixth in the Countdown to the Championship playoff.
Right behind Capps is Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman in Terry and Doug Chandler’s Infinite Hero Dodge, which was quickest in the first session, improved to a 3.873 (332.34) on their last run.
In Top Fuel, DSR’s Tony Schumacher (U.S. Army) is qualified No. 2 with teammate Antron Brown (Matco Tools “Tools for the Cause”), third but points leader Steve Torrence of nearby Kilgore, Texas, was quickest in both sessions including a 3.682 on the last run of the night that tied the track record and extended his lead in the Countdown to the Championship.
Torrence leads fourth-place Brown by 99 points and Schumacher, who moved up into a tie for fifth, by 146.
“It was an outstanding run considering there’s an incredibly fine line between going for it too much and not enough in these conditions on this track tonight,” said Schumacher, the winningest Top Fuel driver in Texas Motorplex history with six event titles. “We made an extremely good run and theirs (Steve Torrence) was a little better. They’re No. 1, we’re No. 2.”
CHARITY CHALLENGE
Papa John’s founder and chairman John Schnatter drove his classic 1971 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 to victory over Leah Pritchett Friday evening in the last Charity Challenge race of the season but Pritchett took the series by a 3-1 margin with her supercharged Gen III HEMI in a 2017 Dodge Challenger configured for drag racing.
DSR owner Don Schumacher and Schnatter each contributed $20,000 at each Charity Challenge and raised $100,000 for the Infinite Hero Foundation and $40,000 for the Riley Hospital for Children Foundation.
