Pomona, CA – Capps, had a stellar event opening to the 2021 season and hopes to do the same in 2022 .  He qualified No. 1 and won the event champion by defeating Bobby Bode in E1, Bob Tasca in E2, John Force in E3, J.R. Todd in E4.

At the season-opening NHRA Winternationals, Capps will embark on his team ownership journey while beginning his 2021 NHRA Camping World Series title defenseAnnounced the formation of Ron Capps Motorsports, an independent Funny Car team, at the PRI show in December.  He Was crowned the 2021 Funny Car champion at the November season finale in Pomona and won the rescheduled 2021 NHRA Winternationals (contested in July) from the pole position.

In 2022, Capps is seeking his third Camping World Series Funny Car title and first as a team owner. As a lifelong Californian and resident of Carlsbad near San Diego, Capps considers Auto Club Raceway at Pomona to be a home track

Quotable:
“To say this is the most excited I’ve ever felt heading into the Winternationals would be an understatement. Obviously, 1997, making my debut as a rookie driving for Don ‘the Snake’ Prudhomme was pretty exciting and overwhelming, but coming into this season as a team owner and driver, and defending our championship, and then you add in everything that’s been going on in this very short off-season, plus having the backing of NAPA AUTO PARTS and GearWrench, it just gives me a lot of satisfaction.

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BROWNSBURG, IN – When two-time and defending NHRA world champion Ron Capps straps into his NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car during the PRO Nitro Spring Training test session this week, it will mark the first time he hits the track as both a team owner and driver.

For the past 27 years, Capps has enjoyed the perks of being a ‘hired driver.’ Shortly after having been crowned the 2021 Funny Car champ, Capps announced that he was departing his longtime home at Don Schumacher Racing to launch his own team, Ron Capps Motorsports, and has been tirelessly working around the clock to ensure he and his team are prepared to begin their title defense when the 2022 NHRA season kicks off in Pomona, Calif. next weekend. While his two roles will intertwine in an official capacity for the first time during this week’s test session at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Ariz., it certainly won’t be his first taste of juggling both his driving duties with his new team ownership responsibilities.

“It was last year at the U.S. Nationals race when I had the talk with Don Schumacher that I was going to branch off and do my own thing,” explained Capps, a 68-time race winner. “So, I had all of these different sponsors and options that we were pursuing throughout the Countdown and a lot of the behind-the-scenes things that go with starting a new team; that was all happening during the playoffs. A lot of people don’t realize that on top of trying to win a world championship, I also had all of that going on in my head.

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BROWNSBURG, IN – Ron Capps’ championship-winning crew chiefs Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli and John Medlen are highly-regarded as among the ‘best of the best’ in the world of NHRA Drag Racing, and as they work alongside the new team owner/driver to assemble the recently-launched Ron Capps Motorsports operation, they are intent on being ultra-selective when it comes to choosing performance partners. Today, the team is pleased to announce that it has added CHE Precision Inc. to its growing list of backers, with the Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based manufacturer joining RCM as the ‘official high-performance valve train component supplier’ of Capps’ 11,000-horsepower NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car.

The Antonelli/Medlen brain trust has relied on CHE Precision Inc. valve train components for twenty years and credits their high-quality products for helping them to win races and championships. As they embark on this new chapter with Capps as he ventures into the world of team ownership, they have the unique advantage of being able to hand-select which companies they would like to work with as they help to refine Capps’ new Funny Car team.

“Valve train components are crucial elements of any high-performance engine, let alone a nitromethane-burning fuel engine” explained Antonelli, a key player in the NAPA AUTO PARTS team’s 2021 NHRA Camping World Series championship campaign. “If you have anything fail in the valve train, it usually results in an explosion so it’s of the utmost importance to use the highest-quality, most-refined machined components available. John Medlen and I have worked with CHE and their staff for decades. We both have machining backgrounds, so we understand the importance of securing the best components.”

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Ron Capps will take on the dual role of owner-driver for his new NHRA race team in 2022

INDIANAPOLIS – Ron Capps has been teasing the news for weeks, but on Friday afternoon at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Indianapolis, the reigning and two-time NHRA Funny Car world champion made it official, announcing the launch of Ron Capps Motorsports, a new NHRA race team which has Capps pulling double-duty, serving as team owner and driver as he makes a bid to go back-to-back and win a third series title in 2022.

“It’s probably been the worst kept secret out there,” joked Capps of the rumors and speculation surrounding his new single-car team that have been swirling around the NHRA community for weeks. “It’s hard to keep something secret that you’re so excited about, you just want to shout it from the rooftop! But, I’m so thrilled that it’s finally out there.

“Team ownership has been a lifelong dream. I’ve been in the sport of NHRA Drag Racing for almost 30 years as a driver and being able to race for legends like Don ‘The Snake’ Prudhomme, and then Don Schumacher, it’s obviously been an incredible experience. I’ve been very fortunate to compete at a high level all these years and be successful, and it feels like the right time to take this next step,” explained the 1997 NHRA Road to the Future ‘Rookie of the Year’ award recipient who has checked nearly every box on the list since making his NHRA debut behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster in 1995.

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