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Capps Clinches Third NHRA Funny Car Championship, First for Ron Capps Motorsports
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By NAPA
Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Josh Berry made his third start for Hendrick Motorsports as the fill-in driver of the No. 9 link hidden, please login to view Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as Chase Elliott continues to recover from a fractured tibia. It was Berry’s fifth career NASCAR Cup Series start. He rolled off the grid from the 21st position and took the opening stage to adapt to superspeedway-style racing in the Next Gen car, ending stage one in 28th. The Hendersonville, Tennessee, native improved to 11th in stage two. During the final stage of the race, Berry was battling inside the top 10 when he was involved in a multi-car incident on lap 190. The team made repairs and Berry was able to rebound for an 18th-place finish.
Josh Berry qualified 21st for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. It was Berry’s third race filling in for the injured Chase Elliott as he continues to recover from a fractured tibia. Berry took the green flag for his first Cup Series superspeedway-style race and used the opening laps to get a good feel for his Chevrolet. The 32-year-old driver was scored in 20th when the first caution flag of the race was displayed on lap 11. Opting not to pit, Berry lined up in that same position after choosing the top lane and battled inside the top 25 once the race resumed. Berry got shuffled to the back of the main pack on lap 42, but was undeterred from the loss of track position as he made his way back up to 28th to close out the stage at lap 60.
During the stage break, Berry reported to the team that the NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet was a little free on entry, but the balance got better on the longer run. Interim crew chief Tom Gray called the Hendersonville, Tennessee, native to pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Berry took the green flag for stage two from the 26th position on lap 68 and continued his forward progress, settling in behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson in the 21st position. Berry was running in 15th when teams began making scheduled green-flag pit stops on lap 127. The driver of the No. 9 stayed out until Gray called him in for a fuel-only stop on lap 138. Back out on the track, Berry made his way to as high as ninth before taking the green-and-white checkered flag in 11th to end stage two.
The No. 9 team made a stop for four tires and fuel under the stage-ending caution, sending Berry back out to start the final stage in 17th. After beginning the stage in the top lane, he made a move to the bottom and used that to his advantage to work his way to 10th on lap 182. Berry continued to race inside the top 10 until a multi-car incident occurred on lap 190, collecting the No. 9 Chevrolet. The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular was able to drive the NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet away and brought it to pit road for repairs. The team worked hard over the course of two pit stops to fix up the front-end damage, and Berry lined up 25th for the lap 200 restart. Less than 10 laps later another incident brought out the yellow flag, giving the team another opportunity to work on the No. 9. Berry was scored in the 23rd position for the restart on lap 216 and reported early in the run that the NAPA Auto Parts Camaro felt better after the most recent repairs. He battled hard in the final stint of the race, climbing his way back inside the top 20 and ultimately scoring an 18th-place finish in the 260-lap event.
“I thought it was a solid day for the No. 9 NAPA Chevy,” Berry said. “I feel like we definitely improved. We got up there in the top 10 and we were pretty solid before that wreck. After that, the car was just a little too damaged to be too aggressive. All-in-all, we finished the race, learned a lot and had some fun.”
Start / Finish: 21 / 18
Next Race: Sunday, March 26, Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas
How to Watch or Listen: FOX, PRN and SiriusXM
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By NAPA
Tanner Reif came away with a 12th-place finish in the General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway on Friday night, as he made his first start for Bill McAnally Racing (BMR) in the No. 16
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He battled a vibration and handling issues in the race, which marked the season opener for the ARCA Menards Series West. The event, with 32 entries, also served as a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series.
After starting 20th on the grid in Friday’s race, Reif steadily worked his way forward. He was up to 15th by Lap 11 and 13th on Lap 18. He was on the verge of breaking into the top 10 throughout the second half of the race, but could not gain additional ground and was 12th at the checkered flag.
Reif expressed confidence that the team will have a fast NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet at the next ARCA West race at Irwindale Speedway, where he scored one of his two series wins as a rookie last year and where BMR has collected 17 wins.
“The NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet ran hard and the crew worked as hard as they could, but we just had a couple of things we couldn’t work out on the car,” Reif said. “It had a vibration and was off pace. Just because we had some adversity tonight doesn’t mean it will continue. I think we can make up these points and win a couple of races this year.”
Start / Finish: 20 / 12
Next Race: Saturday, April 1, Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, Calif.
How to Watch or Listen: Live on FloRacing and Tape-Delay CNBC (Sun., April 23, noon ET)
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By NAPA
Defending NHRA Funny Car world champion Ron Capps is leaving Gainesville Raceway with the confidence that he has one of the quickest cars in the class yet again after a second-round exit at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals. The driver of the link hidden, please login to view Toyota GR Supra laid down the second-quickest pass of the event in the first round of Sunday eliminations before going up in smoke in the quarterfinals.
Capps and tuner Dean “Guido” Antonelli made a statement in Saturday qualifying, where Capps recorded the third-quickest pass of Q3 before laying down a 3.874 E.T. at 333.25-mph in the final session to claim the first No. 1 qualifier award of his sophomore season as a team owner and driver. It was Capps’ seventh pole position since forming Ron Capps Motorsports.
“(In the) last session, Q4, to go to the top and get the yellow hat is something we take very seriously,” Capps said. “It’s important to us to be able to fend off such great competition to steal the pole.”
Racing in front of a packed house on Sunday morning, Capps in his NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra fired off a 3.855-second pass at 334.57-mph to defeat Terry Haddock and set what was then low E.T. of the event. In the second round, Capps left first against fellow Toyota driver Alexis DeJoria but lost traction just after leaving the starting line.
“We felt great about race day,” Capps said. “(The weather) warmed up before second round and when I got back from the run and it smoked the tires, I told Guido how spoiled I was because we haven’t done that in a long, long time. We made a small clutch adjustment that caused us to smoke the tires, but we’re very, very happy with everything and I can’t wait to get going to the West Coast.”
Capps, a veteran of the NHRA nitro ranks, started the season with a new look and new body on his Toyota GR Supra Funny Car. There were personnel changes with the retirement of co-crew chief John Medlen after the Ron Capps Motorsports team won its first world championship as an organization at the end of the 2022 season. With one race under their belts, Capps and company are now ready to continue chasing Capps’ third consecutive world championship, and fourth overall, as the NHRA Camping World Series moves on to Phoenix.
“This last off-season was one of my favorites,” Capps said. “We had an extra month, and as an owner, it gave us a little more time to get everything together. Starting the season off with the Gatornationals was something I think the fans really love, and now I’m super excited to head West and get that string of West Coast races started. Couldn’t be happier with the way we started our season here. Test session went great on Tuesday. We brought out our brand-new 2023 Toyota GR Supra Funny Car body, and everything went according to plan.”
The early-season West Coast swing will begin March 24-26 at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Ariz.
Start / Finish: Qualified No. 1 / Defeated by Alexis DeJoria in the quarterfinals
Points Earned: 62
2023 NHRA Camping World Series Points Standing / Total: No. 6 / 62 pts. (-52)
Next Race: March 24-26, NHRA Arizona Nationals, Chandler, Ariz.
How to Watch or Listen: FS1;
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