Gainesville: Ron Capps Friday summary

Capps Drives To No. 9 Spot On Friday At Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 19, 2004) â^À" Ron Capps powered his Skoal RacingSM Chevy Monte Carlo Funny Car to the No. 9 qualifying position after the 14-time NHRA winner drove to a run of 5.117 seconds at 286.16 mph Friday afternoon at Gainesville Raceway.

On his first run down the resurfaced Gainesville Raceway quarter-mile, Capps' John Stewart-tuned flopper lost traction near half-track and slowed to a pass of 5.716 at 172.67. On Friday's second pass, Capps powered his Don "the Snake" Prudhomme-owned Chevy to the 5.117, 286.16 performance.

"This track is very green," Capps said. "There haven't been a lot of races on the new surface here in Gainesville and when the nitro cars show up, it's tough for us to get down the track. It just takes runs on the track. By the end of the weekend, you'll see some good times.

"As a driver, you have to be on your toes. You have to talk with the crew chiefs and find out if they want you to stay in the throttle or to lift if the car smokes the tires. I stayed in the throttle on the second run. I clicked early on the first run. We'll get four runs because the weather is going to be good all weekend. We wanted to be in the show today, which is why I stayed in the throttle on the second pass on Friday."

Capps aims to improve his qualifying position when Funny Car time trials continue at noon and 3:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, March 20.

ESPN2 will televise two hours of qualifying highlights from the Mac Tools Gatornationals beginning at 2:30 a.m. (ET) on Sunday, March 21 and show two hours of final eliminations at 11:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, March 21.

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