Capps races NAPA Funny Car to fourth straight Brainerd final round, to be completed at U.S. Nationals, DSR dragsters bow out in semis
BRAINERD, MN – Ron Capps likes Brainerd and he’s hoping his success at the central Minnesota facility carries over to Lucas Oil 
Raceway at Indianapolis.
A day that saw a late start and multiple rain delays, Capps, starting from the No. 2 position, bested Jeff Arend, DSR teammate Jack Beckman on a holeshot, and two-time 2014 winner Alexis DeJoria to advance to his third final round of the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Series season and eighth at Brainerd International Raceway.
Capps will face off against his nemesis and 16-time NHRA champion John Force when the final round is completed during Saturday qualifying of the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. NHRA officials were forced to cancel the final round of Funny Car due to darkness as the Brainerd facility does not have lights.
“It’s a little bittersweet because this place has become like family to me,” Capps said after his semifinal win at Brainerd. “We’ve run so well here winning the last two years and going to the final the year before that. I’m bummed that we can’t run the final in front of these passionate fans that stuck around all day. If you put together a week in the Zoo and being in the grandstands all weekend and with the rain today, these are some of the best fans we have on the circuit.”
It was a pretty solid day for the seven Team DSR cars as all seven advanced past the opening round for the first time this season. Tommy Johnson Jr. posted his third semifinal finish of 2014 before bowing out to Force at dusk. Beckman inched closer to 10th place in the Mello Yello Funny Car standings. By defeating Cruz Pedregon in the first round, he now trails 10th place racer Tim Wilkerson by 16 points or less than one round of racing. Matt Hagan raced his Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T to round two before DeJoria’s track record elapsed time of 3.998 was too much to overcome for the Hemi-powered car.
In Top Fuel, both Antron Brown, who collected his 37th career No. 1 qualifying award, and Tony Schumacher advanced to the semifinals. Brown fell to event winner Morgan Lucas, while Schumacher was edged by points-leader Doug Kalitta. Kalitta narrowly defeated Spencer Massey and the Battery Extender Powered by Schumacher car in round two. The three DSR dragsters now rank 2-4-6 (Brown, Schumacher and Massey) with one race left in NHRA regular season.
The seven DSR teams will head home to Brownsburg, Ind. tomorrow before most of them will test at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis on Aug. 20-21 to prepare for the 60th annual U.S. Nationals, Aug. 29-Sept. 1, at the famed Indiana strip.
