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Reif Finishes 12th at Phoenix in First Start for BMR
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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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By NAPA
In his second week filling in for the injured Chase Elliott, Josh Berry qualified 17th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway. The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular finished stage one in the 18th position and improved to 15th for stage two. After a late-race caution sent the race into overtime, the 32-year-old driver restarted in 13th and powered his way to 10th to end the day. It was Berry’s first career top-10 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series in just his fourth start. Josh Berry, who was tabbed to fill in for the injured Chase Elliott on ovals as the Hendrick Motorsports driver continues to recover from a fractured tibia, qualified 17th for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway. The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular made his second start for the No. 9 team on Sunday in the 312-lap event. He used the opening laps to settle in and find his groove as he continued adapting to the Next Gen car. Running in the 25th position on lap 19, he started to build his confidence and climbed to 22nd by lap 32. Berry’s forward progression didn’t stop there. He maneuvered his way to 20th on lap 46 and picked up two more positions to end the first stage in the 18th position on lap 60. During the stage-ending caution, Berry relayed that the No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 needed more security on entry and exit of the corner. Crew chief Alan Gustafson made the call for four fresh tires and fuel during the pit stop.
Scored in the 17th position after leaving pit road, Berry chose the bottom lane for the start of stage two on lap 68. He navigated the chaotic start to the stage and fought hard to stay inside the top 20. Berry swapped back and forth among the 19th and 21st positions throughout the opening 24 laps before dropping to 22nd on lap 93. The Hendersonville, Tennessee, native then reported that the Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet was freer this run. Not long after, green-flag pit stops ensued. Gustafson called Berry to pit road on lap 119 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to tighten up the No. 9. Once pit stops cycled through, Berry was scored in 19th. He was in that same position when the caution flag waved on lap 137 and the team took the opportunity to make a pit stop for four tires and fuel. A fast stop by the team propelled Berry to 15th for the lap-145 restart. The 32-year-old driver held his own in the closing laps of the second stage to take the green-and-white checkered flag in 15th.
After reporting that he needed a little more right-rear grip, Berry brought the No. 9 to pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. He lined up 14th for the start of the final stage on lap 194 and continued to race inside the top 20. As scheduled green-flag pit stops were drawing near, Gustafson asked for an update on the Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet’s handling. Berry reported that the No. 9 was tight in the center of the turns, so the team opted to reverse the previous chassis adjustment during its pit stop for four tires and fuel on lap 240. Once the field cycled through stops, he was in the 17th position and improved to 16th with just 29 circuits left in the race. When the caution flag waved with 10 laps to go, the team called Berry in for four tires and fuel. Leaving pit road in the 15th position, he took the green flag with just three laps to go and powered his way to 13th before another caution came out, sending the race into overtime. Once the race was back underway, Berry charged to 10th place before the checkered flag waved to score his first ever top-10 in the Cup Series in just his fourth career start.
All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers finished inside the top 10, with William Byron scoring the victory.
“It was a really solid day for the No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevy team,” Berry said. “We were able to improve a lot from what we had last week. We were able to stay on the lead lap basically the whole race. We had a couple of runs in there that were really good. A couple runs where we fell back a little bit, but it’s just all part of a learning experience for me. These races are so long and I need to be able to learn this car a little bit better where I can give Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) a little bit better direction on how to help me. Towards the end, we found that we were a little bit on the free side on our better runs. At the end there, we were probably going to finish 15th or 16th, which I was still pretty happy with. Obviously had the cautions there and we executed a couple of really good restarts there and was able to get a top-10.”
Start / Finish: 17 / 10
Next Race: Sunday, March 19, Atlanta Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: FOX, PRN and SiriusXM
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