Columbus: Ron Capps Saturday summary

Capps Qualifies 13th at Columbus

HEBRON, Ohio. (June 12, 2004) -- Ron Capps used a performance of 4.871 seconds to qualify his green Skoal RacingSM Chevy Monte Carlo in the No. 13 position Saturday at National Trail Raceway.

Capps drove his Roland Leong-tuned flopper to a performance of 4.881 seconds at 313.29 mph on Saturday's opening qualifying attempt, which was delayed as a result of heavy rain showers earlier in the day. The 14-time NHRA winner then posted his best elapsed time of the weekend by driving his Don Prudhomme-owned Chevy to a run of 4.871 at 307.58 to claim the 13th qualifying position.

"The 4.87 that we ran in the last qualifying session should have been a 4.80," Capps said. "The car made a hard move and got me out of the groove and I had to fight it. That really hurt our E.T., which is nice to say because the car is really responding. Roland (Leong) is making great calls. The car is consistently going down the track, which is what you have to do on race day."

Capps aims to win his second career race at National Trail Raceway on Sunday when he faces No. 4 qualifier Phil Burkart Jr. in the first round of Funny Car eliminations. Capps has a 4-0 career mark versus Burkart.

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