Carlsbad’s Capps Gears Up for a New NHRA Season

The green light is on this week for the kickoff to the National Hot Rod Association’s 60^th anniversary season, and perhaps no driver is more eager for a new start than Carlsbad resident Ron Capps.

No stranger to victory, Capps has won 31 NHRA events in his 16-year career and has finished runner-up three times in the final points standings for the Funny Car class. In 2009 he won a category-best five events in seven final-round appearances, finishing among the top three points leaders for the fifth time in his career.

In 2010 Capps was the runner-up to John Force in the season opener at Pomona, and midway through the season he won the event at Sonoma. But what happened next is what Capps and his race team would rather forget.

“The season could not get over soon enough,” Capps said recently as he prepared for the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals that start Thursday and continue through Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. “It’s always exciting to get back to Pomona, and we’re looking forward to getting off to a good start.”

A good start would help erase the bad taste of a sour finish to the 2010 season. Capps followed his win at Sonoma by advancing to the quarterfinal round in the next event, but six of the final seven races of the season resulted in first-round eliminations.

“There’s no hope at the end of the year when you have a year like that,“ said Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, the legendary four-time NHRA champion who as a team owner hired Capps in 1996. “I know the feeling. You just hope the sponsors renew.

“But Ron is a good driver, and he’s the kind of driver who does a good job with the fans and sponsors away from the track. That’s a huge part of it."

With John Medlin as his new crew chief to start the 2011 season, Capps has a new lead wrench on the Napa Auto Parts Dodge Charger.

“The guys like working for John,” said Capps, 45. “We did some testing a few weeks ago in West Palm (Fla.) and it went real good.”

After defeating Capps at last year’s Winternationals, Force went on to win his NHRA record 15^th points championship.

“It was a great race when we lost to Force at the Winternationals,” Capps said. “I knew he’d be tough all year.”

Capps went on to finish seventh in the points standings.

“That might be a golden year for some teams, but we’re used to doing better,” said Capps, who shares his home in La Costa with wife Shelley and their two children, daughter Taylor and son Caden.

In addition to Funny Car, pro competition at the NHRA Winternationals is being held in the Top Fuel and Pro Stock classes. Pro qualifying begins at 1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday. Sunday’s final eliminations are slated for an 11 a.m. start.

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For more information, visit the NHRA website or Ron Capps' blog.