Capps Loses Bizarre Second-Round Matchup at Gatornationals
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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
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By NAPA
Ron Capps and the
link hidden, please login to view Funny Car team turned chaos into a commanding victory Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park. The three-time world champion overcame a rocky start in qualifying and bounced back from an engine explosion in the quarterfinals to earn his 78th career national event Wally and his 10th since becoming a team owner in 2022. The veteran wheelman set low E.T. of all four elimination rounds, including the final, where he defeated second-year driver Spencer Hyde. Capps is now ranked third in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car points standings.
Capps’ weekend began with adversity in qualifying as he smoked the tires in both Friday sessions and went into Saturday outside the 16-car field. Crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli mastered the third session, guiding Capps to a 4.023-second pass at 317.79 mph to move into the top half of the field. It was also the second-quickest performance of the round, landing Capps two bonus points. Like almost every other Funny Car driver, Capps’ machine lost traction early in the fourth session and he locked in the No. 7 position for Sunday eliminations.
Capps kicked off race day in a big way, as he left first against three-time NHRA Heritage Series Nostalgia Funny Car champion Jason Rupert and set low E.T. of the round with a 3.980-second pass at 323.19 mph to advance. Capps then led wire-to-wire in his second-round match against Daniel Wilkerson, winning with a 4.144 E.T. to Wilkerson’s 4.157 E.T. But just as Capps crossed the finish line, a massive engine explosion split his Funny Car body in half and sent him into the wall. The incident was eerily similar to the one Capps suffered at this race one year ago, but he managed to scuff the wall, saving the chassis. The NAPA Auto Care team thrashed to rebuild the car fitted with a spare body and made it to the ready line just in time for a semifinal race against defending event winner Paul Lee. The two drivers left the starting line together before Capps pulled ahead to win with a 4.124-second pass at 303.09 mph.
Capps went into the final round with lane choice over No. 1 qualifier Spencer Hyde. The NAPA Auto Care Funny Car led the way from starting line to finish line, posting another 4.124 E.T. at 303.23 mph for the win. It was Capps’ 77th Funny Car win and fourth at Phoenix, but this time, he hoisted a special diamond edition Wally to commemorate NHRA’s 75th anniversary season.
“This is the coveted one right here,” Capps said as he held up the trophy. “You just think of the legacy and what’s gone into this. This is unbelievable. Thank you to Wally Parks, first of all. Katherine (Wooten) and everyone at NAPA, all the NAPA Auto Care people. We knew this was going to be a battle of attrition and dropped cylinders today. A couple of those runs, there was no way I would imagine that would have got us lane choice, but it did. It was like a bracket car. This win reminded me a lot of first my win in St. Louis [1997] because it was hot and we had 150-degree track temps there and we dropped cylinders all day but still won the race.
“You want to just take these (trophies) and chop them up into 6,000 pieces for all the different NAPA stores and NAPA Auto Cares,” he continued. “Carlyle Tools came on board and has done so much fun stuff with Maddi and me. NHRA, 75 years, it’s so awesome to win here. Everybody said I had bad luck, but look, we ended up winning. Monster Energy coming on board has been so much fun. Ron Capps Motorsports, we’re having fun right now.”
Next up for Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team is the NHRA Winternationals, April 10-12, at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, Calif., where he will also compete in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge. As a California native, it’s one of the tracks Capps calls home. He’s also won the Winternationals four times, most recently in 2021.
Start / Finish: No. 7 / winner in final round
Points Standing / Total: No. 3 / 151 pts. (-23)
Next Race: April 10-12, NHRA Winternationals, Pomona, Calif.
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By NAPA
NHRA Rookie of the Year contender Maddi Gordon made her presence known Sunday at the NHRA Gatornationals when she raced to a semifinal finish at Gainesville Raceway. Gordon piloted her
link hidden, please login to view Top Fuel dragster out of the Ron Capps Motorsports camp to round wins over two of the most accomplished drivers in class history before tire smoke ended her run at the opening race of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. She leaves Gainesville ranked fourth in the points standings.
Gordon was the first Top Fuel driver to hit the track in Friday qualifying. Just a couple hours after announcing a multi-year major associate partnership with Monster Energy, Gordon posted a 3.861-second pass at 319.29 mph to take the provisional No. 11 position. She stepped up to a 3.793 E.T. at 321.35 mph in the Friday night session and ended the day in the No. 15 spot. On Saturday, Gordon encountered tire smoke on her third qualifying attempt but came back with a consistent 3.797 E.T. at 328.06 mph in the final qualifying session. It was the quickest pass of the round, netting Gordon three bonus points. She solidified the No. 15 slot going into race day and became the 591st driver and the 23rd woman to qualify for an NHRA Top Fuel field.
In her first-ever Top Fuel competition round, Gordon lined up against No. 2 qualifier and former world champion Shawn Langdon, who was recently named to NHRA’s Top 75 Drivers list. Crew chief Rob Flynn guided Gordon to her quickest pass of the event, a 3.762 E.T. at 334.48 mph, to get past a tire-smoking Langdon. The competition didn’t get any easier for Gordon, as she went on to face the winningest driver in the history of the class, eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, when Top Fuel returned to the starting line for the quarterfinals. Gordon powered to a 3.783 E.T. at 331.53 mph to defeat Schumacher and his 3.863 E.T. That sent Gordon to the semifinals and earned her a spot in the first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the season, which will take place during Saturday qualifying at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.
The semifinals brought another battle of youth versus experience as Gordon faced her third “Top 75” driver, two-time and reigning world champion Doug Kalitta. Gordon started hazing the tires early and had to lift off the throttle as Kalitta advanced with his quickest pass of the day.
“That was just a really, really good weekend,” said Gordon, who became the 100th woman to win an NHRA national event when she drove her family’s Top Alcohol Funny Car to victory at the 2024 NHRA Northwest Nationals. “Of course, we all want to win the race, but I couldn’t have asked for much more in my debut. It was so cool to line up against Shawn in the first round. Rob was confident that the car would get down the track. When I heard (Langdon) blow the tires off in the other lane, I seriously spoke out loud, ‘That wasn’t me! We’re still going!’ Seeing that first win light was insane. I actually started to lose my voice after that one. It’s just been an amazing weekend.”
Gordon’s rookie campaign will continue at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, March 20-22, at Firebird Motorsports Park near Phoenix.
Start / Finish: No. 15 / def. in semifinals
Points Standing / Total: 4th / 74 pts. (-53)
Next Race: March 20-22, NHRA Arizona Nationals, Chandler, Ariz.
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By NAPA
Ron Capps kicked off NHRA’s 75th anniversary season by qualifying his link hidden, please login to view Funny Car in the No. 1 spot to score the first Funny Car pole of the year at the NHRA Gatornationals. As a seven-time Gainesville Raceway finalist, Capps was looking to add to his four wins at the historic facility, but an upset loss in the opening round of eliminations Sunday morning ended his day early.
Capps qualified on the strength of his Q2 pass of 3.890 seconds at 334.07 mph and was the only Funny Car racer to dip into the 3.8-second range during opening weekend of the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. Knowing they were safely in the show, crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli and the NAPA team used Saturday’s remaining two qualifying rounds as test sessions to prepare for Sunday eliminations and felt they had a solid plan in place heading into round one against No. 16 qualifier John Smith. The three-time Funny Car world champion was first off the line but his machine started rattling the tires. He pedaled the car and got it to hook back up, but the ignition box was inadvertently shut off, allowing Smith to drive away with the win. While the early exit was a disappointment, Capps was not deterred and is eager to head to Phoenix for the Arizona Nationals and a chance to rebound.
“We left the Finals in Pomona at the end of last year and we already knew what we wanted to test to get better,” said Capps, who debuted as a multi-car team owner for the first time at the Gatornationals with the addition of Maddi Gordon and the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team. “A lot of work was done at the shop with both teams, obviously getting the dragster together and ready for Maddi’s licensing and then the Funny Car team, we had a great game plan and it all came together. We made great runs in testing and Guido was very excited about coming to race under these warm weather conditions.
“Everyone had that decent shot Friday night, and obviously we were number one with that 3.89, which is always great. With the time change Saturday night and the track conditions the way they were, we figured first round was going to be pretty fast. But, typical Gainesville. I always say, the wins I’ve had here, you always feel like you’ve run multiple events in one day because it’s so demanding. It’s hot, humid, hard on the teams, hard on the drivers. And first round was tough, you never discount Paul Smith, that’s a car that will go down the track so you cannot make mistakes. We went out, rattled the tires. I started pedaling and got it going again, but unfortunately, the ignition box inadvertently shut off, and I was just a sitting duck out there and John Smith was able to drive around me. It’s a bummer, but the great thing is we know we’ve got a good hot rod. We’ve got a weekend off and then we’ll get right back at it in Phoenix.”
Up next for Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team is the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park, where Capps made his professional debut in 1995 while competing in the Top Fuel category.
Start / Finish: No. 1/ def. in first round
Points Standing / Total: 9th / 41 points (-74)
Next Race: March 20-22, NHRA Arizona Nationals, Chandler, Ariz.
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By NAPA
Ron Capps’ 2025 campaign came to an early close on Sunday when persistent rain forced NHRA officials to cancel the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. The driver of the
link hidden, please login to view Toyota GR Supra Funny Car ended the season ranked No. 4 in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series standings, securing his 21st consecutive Top 10 finish. While the three-time world champion was eager to make a final charge in front of the Pomona faithful, Capps wrapped up his fourth year as a team owner proud of Ron Capps Motorsports’ performance in 2025 and energized by the momentum and opportunities ahead. Capps entered the NHRA Finals seeking his second win of the season. He opened 2025 with a runner-up finish at the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway and added another runner-up finish a few races later at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Capps went on to win the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, then raced to another final round at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. In the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs, Capps notched his fourth runner-up finish of the season at the Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex.
Off-track highlights for Capps included the spring announcement that Ron Capps Motorsports will expand into a two-car team in 2026, adding a Top Fuel dragster driven by Top Alcohol Funny Car star Maddi Gordon. At the recent SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Capps and Gordon announced that Carlyle Tools will serve as the primary sponsor for Gordon’s rookie season in Top Fuel.
Capps and crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli were prepared to fight challenging weather conditions and a stacked Funny Car field at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, but rain storms washed away Friday and Saturday’s four planned qualifying sessions, as well as Sunday eliminations.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Capps said. “Every time you get to Pomona, a championship is all you think about. We always feel like we have a championship team and we strive for that. With that being said, it was another great year. We won Bristol and we finished in the Top 5 again. There’s a lot of exciting things coming up with adding the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel car with Maddi. We always wait for the banquet, and then you can start focusing on next year, and that’s what we’re going to do. It’s unfortunate we didn’t get to make runs in front of our Pomona crowd and all the fans, but we’ll be back here in April.”
Capps and his team will reflect on their 2025 season at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Awards Ceremony on Monday, Nov. 17, at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif.
Final Points Standing / Total: No. 4 / 2,370 pts.
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