Indianapolis: Ron Capps Saturday summary

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 4, 2004) - Veteran Funny Car pilot Ron Capps blasted his green Skoal RacingSM Chevy Monte Carlo to the No. 9 qualifying spot Saturday at Indianapolis Raceway Park after racing to a run of 4.878 seconds at 316.97 mph under the lights at I.R.P.

Entering the day, Capps was on the outside looking in on the 16-car Funny Car field at drag racing's 'Super Bowl' event, and Capps and crew chief Roland Leong responded to the pressure with two solid passes. The 14-time NHRA winner opened Funny Car qualifying with an run of 5.006 seconds at 305.29 mph and followed that up by using a Leong tune-up to record the 4.878, 316.97 effort to claim the ninth qualifying spot.

"The guys did a great job today," Capps said. "I knew that Roland (Leong), Todd (Okuhara) and the crew would come through. Going into both sessions not being in the show and then to make two solid runs, I'm really happy with the way the car ran. Now we can work on our race-day tune-up during the heat of the day on Sunday."

The three-time Skoal Showdown winner aims to move into the half of the Funny Car order when qualifying resumes at 12:45 and 4:10 p.m. (CT) on Sunday afternoon.

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