Norwalk, OH – This is the fourth-year for the Ron Capps Motorsports team.  They have nine wins as an organization and are seeking a milestone 10th victory this weekend.  Capps powered to a runner-up finish at the 2024 event. He has enjoyed a strong qualifying showing at four out of the five most recent Norwalk events, earning the pole position in 2019, 2021, 2022.  There was no national evet in 2020.

He secured the No. 2 qualifying spot in 2023 and became the first Funny Car pilot to drive the GR Supra to the No. 1 qualifier position when he captured the pole at the 2022 event.

Capps will be competing in the Thursday Night Thunder Heroes celebrity all-star race at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Thursday night before heading to Norwalk to begin qualifying on Friday.

Capps talks about Norwalk, “This is of course, a really busy time of year. While we’ve discussed adverse conditions during the summer races, we also have these back-to-back weekends, which for us, it was a good points weekend in Richmond. Obviously, we had adverse conditions there. It was very hot and very difficult for a lot of teams and I’m just proud of our NAPA Auto Care team for getting down the track as many times as we did. Continue reading →

NORTH DINWIDDIE, VA – After scoring a long-awaited victory two weeks ago in Bristol, Ron Capps was hoping to keep the momentum rolling at the American Rebel Light Beer Virginia NHRA Nationals. Instead, the three-time Funny Car world champion’s campaign ended in the second round at Virginia Motorsports Park. Driving the NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra tuned by Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli, Capps was aiming for back-to-back wins on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour but came up short in a tough matchup with Daniel Wilkerson on Sunday.

Saturday featured a jam-packed schedule where two of the three qualifying sessions also included the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge, which Capps qualified for when he reached the semifinals at the recent Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Capps made the fourth-quickest pass of the first qualifying session, a 4.028 E.T. at 320.81 mph. In the first round of the #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, Capps left first and outlasted Dave Richards in a race that saw both drivers lose traction. Capps made it down the track in the final round against Daniel Wilkerson, but his 4.063 E.T. at 315.12 mph wasn’t quick enough to get around Wilkerson and his 4.038 E.T. Continue reading →

BROWNSBURG, IN – Ron Capps, driver of the NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, will represent the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series on Thursday, June 26, when he joins the Thursday Night Thunder Heroes field to compete in a celebrity all-star race featuring many of the biggest names in American motorsports, it was announced today.

The three-time NHRA world champion will swap straight-line racing for left turns when he hits the oval track at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP), the Brownsburg, Ind. facility which also hosts the NHRA U.S. Nationals each Labor Day weekend. Alongside NHRA Top Fuel points leader Tony Stewart, Capps will proudly represent drag racing in a loaded field of current and retired drivers drawing from across multiple racing disciplines. IRP began revealing its lineup of drivers yesterday with the announcement of Stewart and 2013 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Brad Noffsinger. Open-wheel racer Michael Lewis was also announced on Thursday afternoon with Capps.

When he makes his IRP oval debut, Capps will be at the controls of Matt Seymour Racing’s #29 Allstar Midget. The two-time U.S. Nationals event champion’s machine will be wrapped to resemble his NAPA Auto Care Funny Car livery. The vehicle is typically piloted by Jake Trainor of Medway, Mass., who is fresh off his second Little 500 win. Continue reading →

North Dinwiddie, VA – Capps snapped a 33-race winless streak at the previous event on tour, the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Ron’s Bristol Dragway triumph makes him the winningest Mission Foods Series driver at the facility and moved him one position up to fourth in the Funny Car point standings.

Capps’ Bristol win was No. 9 for the Ron Capps Motorsports team making the next win a milestone 10th for the fourth-year organization. By advancing into the semifinals in Bristol, Capps has earned his spot in the Richmond running of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.  Ron starts the weekend by celebrating a milestone 60th birthday on Friday leading into the race weekend.

Caps on this weekends race, “We’ve talked time and time again about this point in the season, where we’ve got a lot of races back-to-back, it’s hot out, hotter track temperatures, trickier conditions for the drivers and crew chiefs to navigate. With our upcoming race this weekend in Richmond, Va., it’s looking like it’s going to be very warm and that bodes well for our team. Coming off a win like we did at Bristol where we saw conditions change so rapidly, it always goes back to me bragging about the NAPA Know How with Guido (crew chief Dean Antonelli) and our NAPA Auto Care team and being able to adapt quickly. Continue reading →

BRISTOL, TN – Ron Capps powered his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car to victory Sunday evening at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, making him the winningest NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series driver at the historic Bristol Dragway with eight wins. Already the leader in Funny Car wins, Capps went into the weekend tied with Top Fuel’s Tony Schumacher as the win leaders across all four pro classes. It was Capps’ first win since the prestigious 2023 U.S. Nationals. With the final-round victory over recent first-time winner Paul Lee, Capps moved up a spot to fourth in the NHRA Funny Car points standings.

In the first qualifying session, Capps expertly piloted the NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra through a downpour near the finish line. After the NHRA Safety Safari dried and prepped the track, crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli found the right combination for track conditions and Capps launched his 12,000-horsepower Funny Car to the top half of the ladder with a run of 3.960 seconds at 324.51 mph, the second-fastest pass of the session.

On Saturday, Capps and the NAPA Auto Care team showed that consistency is key when they made another impressive qualifying effort with the third-fastest pass of the final session, a 3.978 at 326.56. Continue reading →

Bristol, TN – As a seven-time Bristol Dragway event champ, Capps is tied with Tony Schumacher for winningest Mission Foods Series competitor in the facility’s history; he leads the Funny Car class in Bristol triumphs.  Capps became the first Toyota Funny Car driver to race to victory while piloting a Toyota GR Supra when he clinched the 2022 Bristol win.

Has won four out of the last seven Bristol events, the NHRA Mission Foods Series did not compete in Bristol in 2020, and seeking his third Bristol Dragway triumph in four years.  Ron owns the Bristol Dragway Funny Car E.T. record, achieved during the 2016 race when he clocked a 3.884-second pass.

“I love Bristol,” stated Capps, “This is an event we look forward to every year. For me personally, any track you get seven wins at quickly becomes a favorite. The first time I went there when I was driving for Don ‘the Snake’ Prudhomme, you could tell the legacy the track has, and for SMI to build it next to the NASCAR track, it’s a favorite of the fans for sure – a lot of great memories there for our Ron Capps Motorsports team. We were the first ones to get Toyota a win with our Toyota GR Supra, and that was at Bristol, and it was one of those days where you look back and you’re proud because it was very challenging. Continue reading →

EPPING, NH – Three-time Funny Car world champion Ron Capps was looking to the NHRA New England Nationals to kick off the grueling four-race June schedule on a strong note but struggled to find traction on the starting line Sunday morning, leading to a first-round exit. Still, the driver of the NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra feels confident his team will bounce back quickly when they return to Bristol Dragway next weekend where Capps is a class leader with seven Bristol wins.

The Ron Capps Motorsports team had trouble making it down the track during the weekend’s opening qualifying session on Friday at New England Dragway. In the second qualifying round, Capps had a parachute uncharacteristically pop out as soon as he stood on the throttle, but the two-time Epping, N.H. event champ stayed with it knowing there was a possibility for a rainout on Saturday and posted a 4.106 E.T. to put him in the No. 14 spot. In between dodging weather the following day, Capps pulled up to the starting line for Q3 where he clocked a 3.936 at 290.88 to move up three positions to 11th in the Funny Car order. In the weekend’s final qualifying round, the Dean “Guido” Antonelli-led NAPA team improved upon their Q3 numbers, running a 3.928 at 329.91 but remained in the No. 11 seed to start race day.

Sunday eliminations began with a first-round match versus No. 6 qualifier Alexis DeJoria. The veteran drivers had previously lined up opposite each other in eliminations three times prior this season with Capps holding a 3 – 0 record over DeJoria. Unfortunately for Capps, this time it was DeJoria who would score the round-win as his machine went up in smoke as soon as he stood on the throttle while she made a clean pass in the opposite lane to advance into round two. Continue reading →

Epping, NH – Capps currently occupies the No. 5 spot in the Funny Car standings and is looking to the four-race sprint of June races to help move into the top three.

Ron explained, “It’s that time of year we all talk about. When we see the New England Nationals on the schedule, we know we’re at the point in the season where we’re going to have quite a few races back-to-back, and it all kicks off in Epping. I’m so glad we get to race that event. It was re-added to the schedule several years ago and the fans up in that part of the country are just incredible. Seeing the grandstands packed there year after year just shows the appetite our New England fans have for NHRA Drag Racing.

This is one of those races where we always go in early. I love getting to spend time with all our NAPA Auto Parts friends in the Boston area, and then on Thursday we’ll go up to Maine. We’re kicking off the weekend with an event at Bentley’s Saloon in Arundel and I’d love to invite all our fans to join us up there. It’ll be a great time. Getting to hang with a legendary racer like Bentley Warren is always really neat, and spending time at his place before the race weekend is something I look forward to every year.

“Something new this year during the race weekend will be the NAPA No. 1 Clawifier award for the low qualifier after Q2 on Friday night. I know Guido (crew chief Dean Antonelli) and our NAPA team will be shooting for that lobster dinner for sure.” Continue reading →

JOLIET, IL – Fan-favorite Funny Car driver Ron Capps powered his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra to a quarterfinal finish today at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago. Despite challenging weather creating a variety of tricky track conditions all weekend long, the championship-winning Ron Capps Motorsports team overcame those obstacles to secure a spot in the top half of the Joliet Funny Car field.

After hazing the tires in the first hit of the weekend, Capps came back in Q2 with a run of 3.998 seconds at 318.17 mph as a ferocious crosswind threatened to push his 12,000-horsepower machine out of the groove. The NAPA Auto Care team continued to improve upon each of their performances as qualifying continued on Saturday, which served not only as the third and fourth qualifying passes but also the elimination rounds for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.

In the first round of the challenge, Capps lined up against current Funny Car world champion Austin Prock. The NAPA Auto Care team, also representing TERREPOWER and Adaptive One Brakes throughout the weekend, sent Capps straight down the track to outpace Prock, who got loose and clicked it off early. Even though Capps dropped a cylinder around the 700-foot mark, he was on such a powerful pass that he still laid down the third-fastest effort of the session, a lap of 3.895 seconds at 325.77 mph, earning a valuable bonus point. Capps outperformed himself once again in the final heat of the day as he faced Matt Hagan in the #2Fast2Tasty finals. Capps posted an impressive 3.889 at 330.88, but it was not enough to outpace Hagan’s 3.880 E.T. Continue reading →

Joliet, IL – Capps qualified for the Chicago edition of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge after his performance in Charlotte, which saw Capps power to a runner-up finish for the second time this season.  Ron captured his first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge victory at the 2023 Chicago event.

Through their partnership with NAPA, the Ron Capps Motorsports team will banner two additional brands on their car this weekend – TERREPOWER and Adaptive One Brakes.

Capps on the Chicago race, “We always talk about what loyal fans we have in the Chicago area, going back a long way. The fact that NHRA got this race back on the schedule is great. Big thanks to Gerber Collision for sponsoring the event. There’s a lot of history with this race. It’s somewhat of a hometown race because Indy is so close and most of our team lives in that area. It’s always great to get into the winner’s circle, but when you have friends and family there, that’s a big bonus. This is a big weekend for us. We’ve got TERREPOWER and Adaptive One on the side of the car as part of their huge partnership with NAPA Auto Parts. It’s always fun to take something that you want to brag about and put it on the side of the car and go out and have great success with it. Continue reading →