| NHRA Gatornationals Event 1 of 21 Gainesville Raceway Gainesville, Fla. March 10-12, 2023 |
| RON CAPPS Driver of the NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra Funny Car |
| NHRA Gatornationals Event Highlights:Four-time event champion (2006, 2007, 2015, 2020)Two-time runner-up (2000, 2016)2021 No. 1 qualifier2022 NHRA Gatornationals Recap: Qualified 10th; Semifinal finish (defeated Bob Tasca in E1, John Force in E2; defeated by Blake Alexander in E3) Last Event (Pomona 2 2022): Qualified No. 1; Event runner-up (defeated Jeff Arend in E1, Tim Wilkerson in E2, Bob Tasca in E3; defeated by Cruz Pedregon in E4) Career Statistics: 608 races; 73 wins; 35 No. 1 qualifiers 2022 Statistics: 22 races; five wins; six No. 1 qualifiers Noteworthy:2023 marks Capps’ sophomore season as an NHRA team owner. As the reigning world champ, the owner/driver is seeking his third consecutive Camping World Series Funny Car title – and fourth overall – after winning the 2022 championship during Ron Capps Motorsports rookie seasonCapps could achieve his 50th round win for Ron Capps Motorsports in Gainesville. He enters the weekend with 46 round wins since branching out on his ownCapps’ next final round appearance will be his 10th since forming RCMLooking to tie former boss Don Prudhomme’s five Gainesville Funny Car wins, which would make him the second-winningest Funny Car driver in the track’s historyReset the Gainesville Raceway Funny Car speed record in 2022 by clocking a 336.23 mph passFan Events: Capps will join his Toyota Gazoo Racing teammates at the Toyota midway display from 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. on Saturday for a Team Toyota autograph session Quotable: “A lot of teams tested the last month or so, and this week was our first time back on the track in 2023. Leading into the race we had a little more time this season, and obviously we’re going to be at a different track to start the year, so a lot of things different but a lot of things still staying the same. With John Medlen retiring, it’s not easy to replace someone like that but I think Guido (Dean Antonelli) did a great job of putting everyone in different positions and bringing on a couple new crew members to our NAPA team. “I’m excited about being back in the car. I’ve been seeing all of these other drivers on social media making hits in their cars during testing all off-season and I’m excited we’re finally back at it now too. The weather is looking awesome; it’s going to be warm, it’s going to be tricky. The Gatornationals is a historic race so I’d love nothing more than to win this weekend and get the season started off on a good note.” |
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