Sweet Gains Ground in Northeast as Title Race Heats Up
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By Dorman Products
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By NAPA
Ron Capps and the
link hidden, please login to view Funny Car team delivered a standout performance Sunday at the NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, racing to the final round of the milestone 1,000th NHRA Funny Car event before a narrow loss to Matt Hagan. After qualifying No. 2, Capps ran a series of passes in the 3.80-second range, including low E.T. of the event, on the way to his 159th career final round. With the runner-up finish, Capps is now tied for the Funny Car points lead with Hagan following race three of the 20-race NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Funny Car’s first qualifying session on Friday was a challenging one for Capps and his fellow competitors, but with Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli turning the knobs, he charged to a 4.007-second pass at 314.17 mph in the second session. That was the third-quickest performance of the round, rewarding Capps with one championship bonus point and the provisional No. 3 position. By reaching the semifinals at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, which he ultimately won, Capps earned a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge during Saturday qualifying. Capps left the line first against Paul Lee, but he started to lose traction and backed off the throttle. He then rebounded to a 3.919 E.T. at 330.88 mph in the final session to grab two more bonus points and climb up to the No. 2 position in the final qualifying order.
In the first round of eliminations on Sunday, Capps left the starting line ahead of young gun Dylan Winefsky, and though he lost traction, pedaled, dropped cylinders, and shut off early, he crossed the finish line first with a 4.977 E.T. Capps came back stronger in the quarterfinals, where he fired off low E.T. of the round, a 3.884-second pass at 332.34 mph, to defeat Alexis DeJoria. Capps and Antonelli lowered the boom yet again in the semifinals with a 3.863 E.T. at 330.31 mph – low E.T. of the event – to hold off rookie Jordan Vandergriff and his 3.889 E.T.
Following a quick turnaround to race under the lights in the 1,000th NHRA Funny Car final round, Capps lined up next to fellow multi-time world champion Matt Hagan for the 85th time in eliminations. The NAPA Auto Care machine moved off the starting line first, but Hagan pulled ahead at the finish line, with Capps recording a 3.893 E.T. at 334.32 mph to Hagan’s winning 3.876 E.T.
“You really couldn’t ask for a better final in a lot of different ways,” Capps said. “It was really mano a mano with both teams – ‘Stretch’ (Mike Knudsen, Hagan’s crew chief) and Guido and then Matt and me. I get up for racing Matt. He was a teammate of mine for a long time and I know how good he is. To me, that’s like a ‘Snake’ and ‘Jungle Jim’ race back in the day. You’ve got a great car, you get up there and you throw down, then you add the fact that it’s Pomona on a late Sunday night under the lights and the 1,000th win in Funny Car is on the line. There’s so many cool things about it. I’m bummed it didn’t go our way, but at the same time, we have a good hot rod, and we moved up in points. I’m just so proud of Guido and the guys.”
Capps will look to solidify the points lead at the next stop on the NHRA Mission Foods Series schedule, the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, April 24-26, at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina.
Start / Finish: No. 2 / def. in final round
Points Standing / Total: No. 1 / 251 pts. (tied)
Next Race: April 24-26, NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, Concord, NC
How to Watch or Listen: FS1,
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By NAPA
Hailie Deegan moved up to third in the points standings with a seventh-place finish in the ARCA Menards Series West 150 at Tucson Speedway. Deegan opened the ARCA Menards Series West event with the second-fastest time in practice, then backed it up with a sixth-place qualifying effort, immediately placing herself near the front of the field.
Once the race settled into extended runs on Tucson’s abrasive surface, Deegan became part of the tightly packed group navigating heavy tire wear. The field frequently ran multiple rows deep and three-wide, with minimal separation as drivers worked to balance conserving tires with maintaining track position. Early in the race, Deegan remained inside the top-10 as the pace fluctuated throughout the field.
She briefly slipped outside the top-10 while adjusting to changing balance and the evolving tire falloff, but her pace remained competitive amidst the tire conservation.
In the final segment, Deegan’s speed began to show through more clearly. After the caution with 37 laps to go, she steadily regained track position in the closing laps, reentering the top-10 and advancing forward in the final run. She ultimately secured a seventh-place finish for her second top-10 result in the first three events. Deegan marked a strong result that reflected improving long-run pace and consistency as she continues to build confidence following time away from stock car racing.
“We started out the day good ending up second in practice in my No.16 Columbia Bank Chevrolet SS,” Deegan said. “In the race, I knew managing tire wear was going to be important, and we decided to fall back to save tire for the end of the race. In the end, I think it was the right move, but we just tried to save our tires a bit too long.”
Start / Finish: 6 / 7
Points Standing / Total: 3rd / 108 pts. (-15)
Next Race: Saturday, May 2, Shasta Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 11:30 p.m. ET on
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By NAPA
Christian Eckes displayed a perfect example of resilience by posting a 15th-place finish in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series inaugural outing on the Streets of St. Petersburg Saturday afternoon. The driver of the No. 91
link hidden, please login to view Chevrolet Silverado RST rallied from two incidents and being caught a lap down to deliver a blue-collar result. Eckes collected 22 points on the day and advanced to ninth in the series standings.
A rain shower on Friday afternoon washed out qualifying and placed Eckes 31st on the grid as the rulebook set the starting lineup. The first 20-lap stage played out relatively uneventful and saw the NAPA Auto Care Chevy methodically advance into the top-15. Eckes sliced his way to 13th by the end of Stage 1 on lap 20 while nursing a lack of forward drive on the tight city thoroughfares.
After crew chief Dave Elenz and the NAPA crew gave Eckes four tires, fuel, and adjustments during the three-minute stage break, Eckes restarted 13th and continued his march forward. However, Eckes was squeezed into the Turn 8 concrete barrier when the No. 5 machine chopped across his nose on lap 26. The contact caused significant damage to the nose of Eckes’ Silverado RST, but the MHR squad made ample repairs to clearance the splitter and fenders despite losing a lap.
Eckes eventually regained his lap with a fortuitous caution on lap 52 and earned the Lucky Dog award. After he received additional repairs, Eckes’ balance remained reasonable and he restarted his climb through the field. More contact from the No. 42 entering Turn 4 on lap 65 sent him for a loop and briefly lost track position outside the top-20. Nevertheless, Eckes righted his No. 91 and regained positions without the aid of a caution. He advanced to 15th at the checkered flag to gain one position in the standings.
“We had some speed in our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet today,” Eckes said of the top-15 effort. “We had that damage from when the No. 5 got into us, hurt the nose and the splitter and lost all our track position. That really put us behind and down a lap, but the guys made a lot of progress fixing the damage. We had pretty good pace after that, got turned again, it stayed green and still managed to get back to 15th. Like I said, we had some really good pace before all that, just glad we were able to minimize the damage and gain some points.”
Start / Finish: 31 / 15
Points Standing / Total: 9th / 69 pts. (-83)
Next Race: Friday, March 20, Darlington Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM
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By NAPA
Chase Elliott and the No. 9 LLumar team qualified eighth for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff elimination race at Martinsville Speedway. Elliott entered the weekend needing to win on Sunday to advance to the Championship 4. The 29-year-old driver finished both stages one and two in fourth place. In the final stage, Elliott restarted fourth late in the race and advanced to third before the checkered flag waved. Chase Elliott and the No. 9 LLumar team entered the NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at Martinsville Speedway needing a win to advance to the Championship 4. Elliott was fastest in Saturday’s practice session before qualifying eighth for Sunday’s race. From the drop of the green flag, the No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet showed speed. He was up to third by the time the first caution came out on lap 29. Under the yellow, a slightly slow stop while pitting for four tires and fuel put Elliott seventh for the restart on lap 36. Undeterred, the 29-year-old quickly improved to third by lap 49 before slipping to fourth as the run went on. That is where he would remain to close out stage one on lap 130.
Under the stage-ending caution, crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. Elliott was the fourth car off pit road, and he took the green flag for the second stage from the outside of the second row on lap 141. Getting stuck in the outside lane in the opening laps of the stage, Elliott lost some ground before clearing down to the preferred lane in the sixth position. From there, he advanced to fourth before an incident brought out the caution on lap 216. After pitting for four tires and fuel, Elliott restarted fourth on lap 223 and remained in that position through a series of cautions before being third to choose his lane for the lap-249 restart. He opted for the inside of row two and ultimately finished fourth in the stage.
During the stage break, Elliott was the third car off pit road after making a fast stop for fresh tires. With some cars opting not to pit, he lined up in the fourth row for the final stage on lap 271. Elliott climbed to seventh before the yellow flag was displayed on lap 279. Staying out, he restarted in the same position on lap 286. This time, he advanced as high as third before pitting from the fourth position under the green flag on lap 375. Just a few laps later, an incident slowed the race and trapped Elliott a lap down. The team took the wave-around to get back on the lead lap. Elliott restarted eighth and was in that same position when the caution came out on lap 398. Once back under green, the 2020 Cup Series champion made headway. Elliott moved into fifth on lap 414 but began losing ground during the long green-flag run, slipping to sixth on lap 444. When the yellow flag waved on lap 482, the team made its final pit stop of the race for four tires and fuel. A fast stop gained Elliott two positions on pit road. He lined up fourth for the restart and climbed to third to end the race, coming up just a couple of positions short of advancing to the Championship 4.
It was Elliott’s fourth consecutive top-four finish at Martinsville.
Start / Finish: 8 / 3
Points Standing / Total: 9th / 2,282 pts.
Next Race: Sunday, Nov. 2, Phoenix Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. on NBC, SiriusXM or MRN
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