'09 has been great for Capps
Funny Car driver Ron Capps has come to Brainerd International Raceway many times throughout his career, which began in Funny Car in 1997.
Capps has collected 29 career wins, which places him fifth among Funny Car drivers, behind the legendary John Force, who leads with 126 career wins.
He finds himself in a nice place this season, as he came to BIR having already qualified for the Countdown to the Championship. This season will culminate with a six-race stretch that will conclude in Pomona, Calif., in mid-November.
Capps was the first Funny Car Driver to qualify for the Chase this season. His five wins have contributed greatly to that. With one more victory, he will have the most successful season in his career. As Capps explains it, he hopes there are more than one or two wins left for him this year.
Funny Car driver Ron Capps made the final round Sunday in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.
Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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"If I was told that I would get two more wins this year, I would wait and get them at the end of the Countdown," he said. "It doesn't change our philosophy. I want to leave here as the points leader. It's fun being the leader and coming into town knowing that you are No. 1."
Capps notched victories in the first two races of the season in his Napa Dodge Charger at Pomona, Calif., and Phoenix, and he has three more since. He also has one runner-up finish in St. Louis, when he lost in the finals to Del Worsham.
One of the reasons for his success this season is his qualifying position. In 2008, Capps averaged a ninth-place qualifying spot for elimination races. This season, he has bumped that up to an average seventh spot for qualifying.
"In the off-season we sat down and determined where our weaknesses were," he said. "Looking at where we lost the championship we found that we lost a lot of it in qualifying points.
"We looked and saw that we had done terrible in qualifying last season and we had a new attitude going into this year. I said I am not going to be conservative this year. If it takes risking smoking the tires to get the No. 1 spot, I'm going to do it and we were never like that before."
It has been an obvious difference for Capps as he has been the top qualifier three times and has accumulated an elimination record of 29-13 this season. That has him tied with Tony Pedregon for the most elimination wins this season.
After the fourth round of qualifying was wiped out by rain Saturday, Capps sat in the No. 2 spot heading into Sunday's eliminations. Only a run by Mike Neff on the last run of the third round kept Capps out of the top spot.
Capps has also claimed new fame with his NAPA car commercials with NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip. It has made him even more popular with fans, and has also put a little bit of extra pressure on him.
"It has brought a lot more fans," he said. I get recognized more as fans come in and say, 'We love your commercials' but we did the commercials last year and we didn't win a race all season.
"Last year when we came out with the commercial, I did feel the pressure as NAPA took a chance on me putting me out with Michael Waltrip. I was bummed when we didn't get any wins. To have five wins now, it feels a little bit more like this is the way we should have been running last year."
Capps sees himself being a part of NHRA racing for a long time, and he would love to have his son take over the ride at some point in the future. However, he does have concerns about the sport's future, with today's economy and the focus on alternative fuels.
"I think about that every morning because our sport is so dependent on these fire-breathing engines," he said. "And I think the with the ground-pounding, with the fans feeling their organs moving around during the round, and the loudness ...
"The whole spectacle of having something shot out in three or four seconds right in front of you at 320 miles per hour and have part of your body shake and move ... I don't think there is an alternative fuel that will replace that.
"People see it on TV and once they come and see it they can't believe it. The American public is still going to spend money on something that throws them back in their seat at a stoplight.
"It scared me when the President came in and wanted to have these cookie-cutter cars. That it is scary to me. Will fans still flock to see motorsports? Every morning I wake up thinking about it."