NHRA
Seattle: Ron Capps final report
CAPPS REGAINS SOLO HOLD ON POINTS LEAD IN SEATTLE KENT, Wash. (July 19, 2009) - Ron Capps regained a solo hold on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car class points lead at this weekend's NHRA Northwest Nationals, first by qualifying ...
Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:38 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
CAPPS REGAINS SOLO HOLD ON POINTS LEAD IN SEATTLE
KENT, Wash. (July 19, 2009) - Ron Capps regained a solo hold on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car class points lead at this weekend's NHRA Northwest Nationals, first by qualifying ahead of Ashley Force Hood, and then by landing in the semifinals, where he bowed out to Tim Wilkerson.
Driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car, Capps disposed of Cruz Pedregon in the opening round of eliminations on a hot and tricky Pacific Raceways drag strip with a 4.206-second pass at 290.26 mph, then outran his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman in the second round using a 4.250/273.33 pass.
Facing Tim Wilkerson in the semifinal round was a tough draw, and he and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch knew it. As expected, it was a tight contest, with Wilkerson edging out Capps with a winning 4.243/281.60 lap to Capps' 4.291/284.21.
"We came to find out it broke a clutch lever during that run," said Capps. "We felt like we could have run another 4.21 or 4.22 and we were going to have to because Tim Wilkerson has been tough all day. And that was a big match-up.
"I've got to tell you, the most exciting part about this whole weekend was the fact that we brought something to test and Ace was really happy with it on Friday. He left it in for Saturday and now we're going to leave it in for the rest of the season. He is tickled to death with it and that makes me even more excited.
"The NAPA car is making so much power that he's had to kind of tame everything down a little bit. And that's a good sign for later in the year when we get some really good conditions at the upcoming tracks. Right now were going to Sonoma (Calif., next weekend), where it's going to be hot, much like it was this weekend, and then of course to Brainerd (Minn., the race following Sonoma), where it'll be humid and hot .
"For Ace to get a handle on what we tested here and make the runs we made and go all the way to the semifinals and actually be second-low ET for the first round and low ET of the second round was a huge accomplishment.
"We do see the Countdown on the horizon. Even though we're not really counting points at this stage, we are well aware of the importance of leaving the U.S. Nationals with the points lead and those 20 bonus points before the Countdown begins.”
Next up is the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., July 24-26.
-credit: dsr
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Seattle: Morgan Lucas Racing final report
Next article Seattle: Series final eliminations report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Ron Capps
Capps, Torrence, Hines win Southern Nationals in Atlanta
NHRA
NHRA
Atlanta
Capps, Torrence, Hines win Southern Nationals in Atlanta
Capps, Schumacher score their first wins of 2018
NHRA
NHRA
Bristol
Capps, Schumacher score their first wins of 2018
Motorama show offers Canadian fans chance to warm up for race season
NASCAR Canada
NASCAR Canada
Motorama show offers Canadian fans chance to warm up for race season
Latest news
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 7 h
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
9 h
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 9 h
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
9 h
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe