[h=2]NHRA: Capps claims first Funny Car title[/h] Saturday, 12 November 2016


NHRA

Ron Capps is an NHRA Funny Car world champion. After years of trying and several heartbreaking near-misses, the veteran Funny Car finally got the proverbial monkey off his back, officially locking up his long-awaited for championship when he qualified for the season-closing Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona.


Capps' first title came after a dominating season in which he and his Rahn Tobler-led NAPA Auto Parts team had the best car of a very competitive Funny Car class. Capps opened the season with a win at the opener in Pomona, then followed that up with a No. 1 start in Phoenix and a runner-up finish in Gainesville. Though Capps and crew had a bit of a hiccup at the spring Las Vegas race, for which Capps failed to qualify, they hit their stride again in Charlotte, where they were in the final four of the unique NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
After a relatively quiet few races after that, Capps really hit his stride on what some call the East Coast Swing: Epping, Englishtown, Bristol, and Norwalk. During those four races in four weeks, Capps qualified No. 1 three times, won three times, and finished in the semifinals at the fourth event. That strong showing boosted Capps to the No. 1 spot in the points, a position he never surrendered.
Capps entered the Countdown as the top seed, and he steadily and consistently racked up round-wins at every race to pull away from the rest of the competition. Capps' worst Countdown finish was a semifinal, and he had two final-round showings, in Reading and Dallas. That, combined with more hot-and-cold showings by his nearest pursuers, allowed Capps to build up an 86-point advantage leaving Las Vegas, putting him in prime position to clinch early at the Finals.
All Capps needed to do at the finale was maintain his advantage or not allow it to fall below 81 points to clinch. Capps did that by scoring more points during the four qualifying sessions than Hagan.
Capps made his professional debut in 1995, driving a Top Fuel dragster. After a limited schedule in 1996, Capps switched to Funny Car the following season, piloting a flopper for legend Don "the Snake" Prudhomme. In his rookie Funny Car season, Capps won twice in three final rounds and was named the Auto Club Road to the Future Award winner.
In the years since, Capps has brought his overall win total to 50, 49 of which have come in Funny Car, making him the second-winningest driver in the history of the class. Capps had finished second in points four times before breaking through and winning the championship this season.

 

see also:
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/d...rld-title.html