Commerce: Ron Capps Friday summary

Capps Sits 16th Following First Day of Qualfying at Atlanta

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 14, 2004) - Ron Capps and the green Skoal RacingSM Chevy Monte Carlo qualified 16th Friday following the first two qualifying attempts at Atlanta Dragway.

On his opening effort of the weekend, Capps drove his Don Prudhomme-owned flopper to a run of 5.725 seconds at 175.98 mph after losing traction near mid-track. Capps again lost traction early in the run, slowing to a performance of 9.982 at 88.71 on Friday's second qualifying attempt. The Skoal Racing crew is scheduled to make two more qualifying runs on Saturday afternoon.

"The hot, humid weather conditions made it tough to get down the track," Capps said. "We'll come back on Saturday and tune up this Monte Carlo and hopefully move up into the top half of the field for Sunday's eliminations."

Capps, a 14-time NHRA winner, hopes to move up the Funny Car ladder when qualifying continues at noon and 3 p.m. on Saturday.

ESPN2 will televise two hours of qualifying highlights from the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals beginning at 8 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, May 15 and show three hours of final eliminations at 7 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, May 16.

-www.snakeracing.com