Capps 3.988 #1 Qualifying run leads off Saturday DSR Report
Tobler tunes Capps’ NAPA Dodge to 3.988-second run to earn No. 1 qualifying position at Route 66 Nationals
– Ron Capps’ crew chief Rahn Tobler and assistant John Collins have spent much of the past several races working to improve their 
NAPA Batteries/Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Dodge Charger R/T.
After finishing runner-up at the season-opener and winning the title the following week near Phoenix, Capps and the NAPA team have steadily been making progress after a mild slump while adjusting to a new chassis.
Capps has been adamant that those early-season performances would soon return.
And his faith was rewarded Saturday night in the Route 66 Nationals near Chicago when Tobler tuned his Funny Car to the third quickest time ever with a run of 3.988 seconds at 320.28 mph to earn the No. 1 qualifying position heading to Sunday’s championship eliminations.
It is Capps first No. 1 qualifying performance of the year and 15th of his career through 399 NHRA events.
“I’ve been hit and miss at this racetrack,” Capps said. “I’m able to drive a car that Rahn Tobler tunes, and I know he’s a threat to put big numbers on the scoreboard and win every time we go to the starting line.”
That was evident before Saturday’s blistering run in Friday’s only qualifying session in the Route 66 NHRA Nationals when Capps completed his run in 4.069 seconds at 311.27 mph.
“What’s unique about Route 66 these days is the two night sessions we get in qualifying,” Capps said. “That’s something we haven’t always done here. It used to be so hot here during the day. This is great for us and great for the fans.
“We hadn’t gotten into to the low 4.0s or high 3.9s yet this year because we were still in uncharted territory with our new DSR chassis. We knew it could do it we just had to find the sweet spot. You can compare it to a lot of things but it is something you have to massage, caress; you have to be gentle sometime and other times you have to get after it. We’ve been trying to find the sweet spot with this DSR chassis.
“The first run Saturday we tried to push the limit but it wouldn’t hold. To come back and run like we did tonight tells you the whole story. Rahn’s very meticulous about the tune-up.
“We all had visions of races last year at Englishtown where everyone was running right at four seconds.”
At Englishtown a year ago on May 31, Capps and Tobler produced the quickest Funny Car run ever at 3.964 at a speed of 320.89.
“Sunday is going to be incredibly close and fast,” said Capps, who has won 39 titles in his career. “You put that together and you’ll have a heckuva day of side-by-side racing.
“I love the fact that I have a crew chief who can squirt the car down a tricky racetrack when you need to, but when we have great conditions like we did Saturday night he can go sub four-second runs.”
Hagan unable to shine during night qualifying at Route 66, will race teammate and points contender Gray on Sunday
– The calendar says it’s near the end of June but Mother Nature brought spring-like conditions to Route 66 Raceway near Chicago.
In some of the best racing conditions of the year with air temperatures reaching a high of 70 and track temperatures dipping into the low 70s for the final session Saturday night, Matt Hagan’s Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar/Rocky Boots Funny Car qualified sixth for Sunday’s eliminations in the Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
Rain shortened Friday’s qualifying to only one session where Hagan and crew chief Dickie Venables produced a 4.040-second pass.
During Saturday’s opening session, Hagan’s Dodge Charger R/T failed to make a full pull on the 1,000-ft racing surface. In the final session, Hagan and Robert Hight were shut off by NHRA officials at the starting line due to a mechanical failure on the timing tree.
After re-firing minutes later, neither Hagan nor Hight were able to make a full pass and take a shot at the record conditions where four Funny Cars dipped into the three-second range.
“It kind of burns you up inside to know the opportunity was missed out there to lay down a 3-second run and get some data to work off of when you have cool conditions,” Hagan said. “Just the way that it happened, we have the opportunity to mess up plenty and we don’t need any help doing it.
“That’s really, really disappointing. To sit there and watch so many cars make incredible passes and you not be able to have a real shot at it, it’s just disappointing. Like Dickie said, we have to put it behind us. We don’t get it back, we don’t get a do-over, that’s just part of life. You build character on that. We’ll come out here tomorrow and work hard.”
With Sunday’s forecast high of 77, the track won’t likely be as record-producing as it was on Saturday, but that doesn’t bother Hagan, who will have to race Don Schumacher Racing teammate Johnny Gray in the opening round of Sunday’s eliminations at Route 66 Raceway.
“Johnny and I are battling it out there for the points lead,” Hagan said. “I know it’s early in the season but you can bet that we’re both set on having that No. 1 spot. We didn’t have a chance to shine on Saturday so we’ll take our chances to shine on Sunday.”
Beckman, Valvoline/MTS Funny Car team return to form with 3.993-second qualifying run at Route 66 Raceway
– Jack Beckman and crew chief Todd Smith with assistant Terry Snyder have patiently waited for their Don Schumacher Racing Funny Car to return to the form that won them the NHRA world championship last year.
The Valvoline MaxLife/MTS Mail for Wounded Warriors Dodge Charger R/T made a statement Saturday night when it qualified third for Sunday’s eliminations with the seventh quickest run in a Funny Car with a time of 3.993 seconds at 319.52 mph.
“It’s just stunning to see this,” said Beckman, who holds NHRA records for elapsed time (3.986) and speed (320.58) with the team.
“It’s not because of the air. The track is just so phenomenal that we can throw everything at it and it just sticks.”
Beckman’s teammate Ron Capps earned the pole for Sunday’s eliminations with a time of 3.988 seconds and 320.28 mph.
“We’re getting back to where this car does what we ask it to do far more often then not,” Beckman said. “It was an odd day Friday with the weather and losing a session, and then we had a lot of rain early today.”
A big advantage Beckman said the Valvoline/MTS team had at Route 66 Raceway was running a solid 4.043 (313.15) in Friday’s only qualifying session.
“The great thing about unloading the car out of the trailer (Friday) and going right down the racetrack is that we had the flexibility to take a bigger swing today or try something.
“We don’t feel bad about missing on the first run Saturday. Todd thought we could move up a little. It just didn’t hold it.
“If you look at all of our runs last year including the three-second runs we didn’t go up there with any Hail Mary tune-up. We always took something up there we thought the track could handle.
“One of the interesting things about this team is we are at our best under extremely good conditions. We can run consistently at the top of the pack when there are outstanding conditions.”
Massey, Battery Extender dragster qualify sixth for Sunday’s first round pairing with DSR teammate at Route 66 Raceway
– It’s the conditions crew chiefs crave. And it’s the conditions Spencer Massey’s Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher dragster thrives on.
With the high of 70 degrees on Saturday at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago and late afternoon session and a session under the lights, track conditions were ideal for producing record runs.
In Saturday’s opening session, Massey posted a 3.758-second pass at 324.28 mph on an 89-degree racing surface. During the final qualifying session, the sun had set and the track temp was dropping quickly.
Massey’s Battery Extender dragster launched well but slowed near the finish to a 3.828-second pass at 305 mph, pairing him against Don Schumacher Racing teammate and reigning NHRA Top Fuel champion Antron Brown in the first round of eliminations.
“These conditions are a lot different today than what we’ve seen in the past few races,” said Massey, whose career best is a 3.728-second pass recorded at Englishtown last season. “It gave us a good opportunity to go out there and make some power and lay it down. 3.75 was a really great pass, it’s just awesome.”
Although race day weather conditions are forecast for a high of 77 degrees, which is relatively cool for a Sunday in June, it won’t be the same ideal conditions the teams were faced with in qualifying.
“With two night sessions, you get prime conditions to run fast but it’s not going to be the same conditions on race day,” he said. “I’m okay with it though because I know Phil (Shuler) and Todd (Okuhara) have a great handle on the car for Sunday. The extra night qualifying runs just gives us an opportunity to flex our muscles and try to go as fast as we can.”
But you never want to line up against a teammate in the opening round of eliminations on race day.
“We never want to see our DSR teammates that early on a Sunday, especially at the home race for the Schumacher’s. Antron and those guys have struggled lately but their car has shown a lot of improvement this weekend and I can guarantee you it’s going to be a great drag race.
“We’re very pleased with the Battery Extender car and how it’s performing. We’re excited and ready to get out here on Sunday and go racing. We’ll try to go back-to-back and take home a win at the home track for Schumacher Electric.”
Crew chief Corradi gets Brown’s Matco Tools dragster into Route 66 Nationals, will face DSR teammate Massey
– Brian Corradi is known for not showing his emotions on the starting line at an NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event.
His steady, unflappable demeanor is a trademark.
The crew chief for Antron Brown’s Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster had reason to make an exception to his stoic look on Saturday afternoon after Brown made a stellar run at 3.805 seconds and 314.97 mph to safely earn a spot in Sunday’s 16-car championship eliminations of the Route 66 Nationals.
Corradi broke into a smile as he headed back to the pits after the run.
It was more of relief and for the confidence he has in his crew.
“We put on a 3.80 and that was the refreshing thing,” said Corradi, who shares crew chief duties with Mark Oswald. “It was enough to get in the show. We could have smoked the tires, anything could have happened.
“And we made a run down the track without anything coming off.”
The way things have gone over the past four events anything could have happened.
His final run of 3.828 (286.56) did not improve his first run that earned him the No. 11 qualifying spot.
“It’s game time. We’re smiling, because all of our guys have been working so hard,” Brown said. “We’ve been taking some blows.
“That last run tonight, we were on a mid-3.70 run, but then it bumped a switch that made our engine lose power. That’s why I ended up shutting it off because it was nosing over and I didn’t want to lose the engine. We’ll fix that problem.”
The No. 11 position for Sunday’s eliminations unfortunately pits him against DSR teammate Spencer Massey, who qualified sixth and will have lane choice in the opening round.
“We feel good for tomorrow, and we’ll give a good race. The bad part is we hate racing our teammate. It really looked like we were set up to race someone else, but things moved around a little in that last session and we’ll be racing Spence in round one. It’s going to be a tough match-up, but we’ll go out have some fun and race. It just feels good that we got over that curve and can get back to racing again.”
On Saturday’s first run – only the second in competition for the new Don Schumacher Racing dragster – Brown guided the Matco rail with a time of 3.805 at 314.97 mph.
It was the quickest Brown has gone since mid-May at Topeka, Kan.
“It’s nice to have a good run, and that’s what we expect out of our Matco Tools car,” Corradi said.
“What’s happened in the past is in the past. We’ve learned from everything that happened. Those things could have come up at any given time to any of the cars in the pits.
“We worked to keep our emotions on the same page. That was the biggest task. No one was going to give up, and no one did.”
