Atlanta: Johnson, Capps finals summary

Don Prudhomme's Skoal Racing Report

Johnson sixth, Capps seventh following Southern Nationals

COMMERCE, Ga., May 5, 2002 - It was just one of those drag racing weekends for Ron Capps, Tommy Johnson Jr. and the Skoal Racing Funny Car team during the Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

It was wet . . . it was cold . . . it was frustrating. Temperatures were in the 50s Saturday and rain fell on and off much of the day. The only difference between Friday and Saturday, weather-wise, was that it rained longer Friday, washing out the opening qualifying session.

Limited to just three attempts, Johnson's Blue Skoal Racing Camaro did not qualify here for the second straight year, prompting Johnson to quip, "Maybe we need to move this race to Las Vegas," where he's had some success in the past.

Capps also went to the starting line Saturday night on the outside looking in, but his Green Skoal Racing Camaro responded with a 4.856-second, 310.05 mph run that put him fifth in the 16-car field.

Matched against Todd Paton for the second week in a row, Capps experienced the same result as he did at Bristol, Tenn. His car smoked the tires and Paton won, 5.052 at 281.95 mph to 8.299 at 106.97.

"It was a tough weekend," Capps noted. "The bad weather played havoc with qualifying. We got a little behind and finally ran what our potential was Saturday night. The conditions were about the same Sunday morning - cold and overcast - but something must've malfunctioned because we only went about 30 or 40 feet before the tires just went up in smoke. We were all very surprised."

Johnson ran his best time of the weekend on his final attempt and had to pedal the throttle three or four times before the engine expired in ball of flames. He was timed in 5.657 seconds at 211.96 mph.

"There really isn't much to say," Johnson said. "It wasn't a very good weekend."

Johnson is now sixth in NHRA Powerade Series points with 382, followed by Capps in seventh with 354.

The Skoal Racing team planned to test Monday at Atlanta Dragway to prepare for three consecutive races, beginning at Englishtown, N.J., May 17-19; then moving to Topeka, Kan., May 24-26; and concluding at Joliet, Ill, May 31-June 2.

-sr/dpr-