Capps qualifies No. 2 in Four-Wide Nationals and will be happy host when NASCAR's Truex, crew visits Sunday

April 14

CONCORD, N.C. (April 14, 2012) - Ron Capps will be a happy host Sunday morning when his NASCAR compatriots for NAPA AUTO PARTS visit him before championship eliminations of the Four-Wide NHRA Nationals at Charlotte Motor Speedway's zMAX Dragway.

Capps and new crew chief Rahn Tobler qualified No. 2 for the unique event on the world's only four-lane dragstrip.

Martin Truex Jr., who raced with his No. 56 Michael Waltrip Racing team in Fort Worth Saturday night, were to fly to Charlotte in time for Truex to be the Honorary Crew Member for Capps when racing begins at noon.

Capps was nearly euphoric after earning the provisional pole on Friday and his enthusiasm wasn't diminished when Robert Hight dropped him to the No. 2 spot on Saturday.

It was a near 180-degree improvement for Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS team that did not qualify for the last NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event two weeks ago at Las Vegas.

"There have been a lot of changes and a lot of drivers would have a new crew chief adapt to his racing style, but I've always prided myself in being able to adapt to whatever he wants.

"Rahn and I sat down and I asked what he wanted me to do as a driver. We sat down and went over exactly what he wanted to do, things he wanted me to do and it's been a fun challenge.

"It's been fun, but the best part is seeing Don Schumacher smiling."

Tobler, who continues to assist Jack Beckman's Freightliner/Valvoline NextGen Funny Car with that team's new crew chief Todd Smith, helped it earn the No. 5 qualifying position.

FUNNY CAR
No. 1 qualifier: Robert Hight (4.074 sec., 317.19 mph)

Ron Capps, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T
Qualifying position: No. 2
Sunday's 1st round opponents: Tony Pedregon, John Force, Bob Bode

FRIDAY
Session 1: 4.105 sec., 301.81 mph
Session 2: 6.437, 99.38
SATURDAY
Session 3: 4.092, 311.99
Session 4: 4.110, 310.98

FULL THROTTLE SCHEDULE:
Sunday: Eliminations, noon.

ON ESPN2
Sunday: 7-10 p.m. (ET); 7 p.m. (PT)

WEATHER.COM FORECAST:
Sunday: High 83, partly cloudy, 20 percent chance of rain

FOUR-WIDE FOUR-MAT
The Four-Wide NHRA Nationals features the world's most unique drag racing format at the world's only four-lane dragstrip at the world's most impressive drag racing stadium.
Here are some tips about understanding how racing four-wide works:

Sunday eliminations: The specially-modified eliminations ladder in Sunday's first round will feature Race A (qualifiers 1, 8, 9, 16), Race B (qualifiers 4, 5, 12, 13), Race C (qualifiers 2, 7, 10, 15) and Race D (qualifiers 3, 6, 11, 14). Race A and Race B will be on one side of the ladder, while Race C and Race D will be on the other.
The first two cars to get to the finish line barring redlight or other disqualification advance to the next round.
In the final round, the drivers will finish first through fourth in the order they cross the finish line, barring any red-light starts.

Lane choice: First-round lane choice will go to the quickest qualifier in the group of four, second choice to the second-quickest, and third choice to the third-quickest. In subsequent rounds, first choice will go to the driver with the lowest elapsed time from the previous round, second choice to the second-lowest, and third choice to the third-lowest.

About NAPA AUTO PARTS
NAPA was founded in 1925 to meet America's growing need for a world-class auto parts distribution system. By providing excellent customer service for more than 80 years, NAPA has become the industry leader.

NAPA's strength is unrivaled, with over 6,000 NAPA AUTO PARTS stores, 64 Distribution Centers, than 13,000 NAPA AutoCare, AutoCare Collision and Truck Service repair facilities, over 400,000 parts in inventory every day and the convenience of 24-hour shopping with NAPAonline. NAPA AUTO PARTS stores provide friendly, personalized service. Our highly trained and experienced professionals are here to help you get the job done. With our huge in-stock inventory, NAPA provides the parts you need when you need them.

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About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., consists of seven professional NHRA teams: in Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the FRAM/Prestone dragster of Spencer Massey and the Matco Tools dragster of Antron Brown; and in Funny Car, 2011 NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan in the Aaron's Dream Machine/Mopar Dodge Charger R/T, Valvoline NextGen Dodge piloted by Jack Beckman, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge of Ron Capps and the Service Central Dodge of Johnny Gray. DSR has won 177 NHRA national event titles and nine world championships.