Pit Stop Radio News

For the third consecutive year, Funny Car driver and team owner Ron Capps raced to the final round Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway outside St. Louis. Capps, already the winningest Funny Car driver at St. Louis, came up one win-light short of a fifth Midwest Nationals triumph in the final round against Jack Beckman. The late-round finish at the third of six NHRA Countdown to the Championship races moved Capps and his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra team up one spot to fourth in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series standings.

All-day rainstorms on Friday kept Capps and his Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli-tuned hot rod in the pits until Saturday, which included just two qualifying sessions. In the first session, Capps started drifting towards the centerline, so he lifted early to a 4.025-second pass to sit ninth. He charged hard to a 3.878-second blast at 333.33 mph in the second session, the third-quickest pass of the round, to earn one bonus point and qualify third going into Sunday eliminations.

On race day, Capps matched up with Funny Car rookie Buddy Hull in the opening round. Capps moved first and held the lead the whole way, winning with his quickest pass of the weekend at that point, a 3.873 E.T. at 329.18 mph, while Hull smoked the tires. Capps and second-generation driver Bobby Bode cut identical reaction times in their second-round match, but Capps pulled ahead and turned on the win light with a 3.884 E.T. at 322.58 mph. Capps got the starting line advantage over Blake Alexander in the semifinals and followed through with a winning 3.868 E.T. at 325.77 mph.

The final round saw Capps leave ahead of Beckman, the past world champion who was named John Force’s substitute driver earlier this season. Beckman started to drive around Capps, though, and got the win with a 3.856 E.T. Capps followed across the finish line with a 3.882-second pass at 329.42 mph.   

“The final round was crazy. I never saw Jack’s car out there and just waited for my win light to come on the guard rail and I never saw it,” said Capps, who earned his first Funny Car win driving for Don ‘The Snake’ Prudhomme at St. Louis in 1997. “It’s so disappointing for the guys on the team because, gosh, what a great day of just solid runs. But hat’s off to Jack. It’s really great to have Jack back in our sport. Obviously, the circumstances aren’t the greatest, but like I told Jack, I’m proud of him.”

Capps, who went into the weekend ranked fifth in the points standings, went around reigning world champion Matt Hagan to leave St. Louis in fourth. He still has a lot of ground to make up to chase down points leader Austin Prock, but Capps, Antonelli, and the team are up for the challenge.

“It’s been one of those years where we really had to work hard at every single little thing and it’s all coming together now, which is great,” Capps said. “Slugger (Labbe) from Toyota came over this morning and said he had a feeling we’re going to get in the winner’s circle and we came close. We have a lot of enthusiasm going to Dallas and the last three races.”

Capps and the Ron Capps Motorsports team will have a weekend off before heading West for the Texas NHRA FallNationals, Oct. 11-13, at the Texas Motorplex. Capps is a three-time winner at Dallas, with his most recent win happening in 2022. He’s also a three-time runner-up there.

Qualified: No. 3 (3.878 E.T. at 333.33 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.873 E.T. at 329.18 MPH defeated Buddy Hull 12.672 E.T. at 75.09 MPH
E2: 3.884 E.T. at 322.58 MPH defeated Bobby Bode 4.688 E.T. at 178.54 MPH
E3: 3.868 E.T. at 325.77 MPH defeated Blake Alexander 9.261 E.T. at 68.29 MPH
E4: 3.882 E.T. at 329.42 MPH defeated by Jack Beckman 3.856 E.T. at 315.86 MPH

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car Point Standings (Unofficial):

ABM Communications PR