Tricky lane at Firebird contributes to loss for Capps but NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car is 5th in points

February 19

CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 19, 2012) - Ron Capps always wants to win the last race of an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event and leave with the Wally trophy, but he is looking further down the dragstrip.

Capps advanced to the second round Sunday in the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird International Raceway and while being disappointed the driver of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car sees progress and is fifth in championship points after the second of 23 national events.

He lost to event runner-up Mike Neff in a race when both cars smoked the tires. Neff won with a run of 4.264 seconds at 246.74 mph to Capps' 5.246 (165.48).

"Then Zippy (Neff) went out and pulled the tires loose way down in front of me after I had already tried to pedal it but that just makes you think all we had to do was go down the track," Capps said. "It's tough, but it's part of the deal. It could be like this all year, especially in the summertime.

"Lane choice was a big factor, there's no doubt about that. It was impressive that we got down in the first round in the left lane and beat Cruz (Pedregon)."

Capps gave credit for that win to NAPA AUTO PARTS crew chief Tim Richards.

"Tim made a great call. I gotta tell you, for me, this one is one of the tougher weekends where I've really had to challenge myself driving wise, to be on my game. You heard a lot of drivers talking about the car wanting to move around both lanes.

"It was a very difficult track all weekend long. The left lane was harder to drive, definitely. It was harder to tune for the crew chiefs too. We were at a disadvantage. We didn't try to overpower it, so I'm sure we're going to find something a little off, because we went back up and were trying to run a 4.16 or a 4.17 but for some reason it struck the tires early.

"Going to any racetrack with Tim Richards right now is just such an emotional boost for me as a driver. It's a confidence boost. I'm just so proud to show up at the racetrack and know that I drive a car tuned by "The General" and my guys. I'm so proud of them and so proud to drive for them."

ARIZONA NATIONALS RESULTS FOR DSR TEAMS

FUNNY CAR
Ron Capps, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 10
Round 1: CAPPS (4.162 sec., 301.13 mph) def. Cruz Pedregon (4.210, 274.33)
Round 2: Mike Neff (4.264, 246.75) def. CAPPS (7.000, 90.68)

Jack Beckman, Valvoline NextGen Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 6
Round 1: BECKMAN (4.090 sec., 308.57 mph) def. Tony Pedregon (4.179, 304.83)
Round 2: BECKMAN (4.172, 282.24) def. Jeff Arend (4.322, 294.43)
Semifinals: Mike Neff (4.099 306.74) def. BECKMAN (4.129 301.60)
Event winner: Robert Hight

Johnny Gray, Big O Tires/Service Central Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 1
Round 1: GRAY (4.0484 sec., 310.34 mph) def. Grant Downing (4.422, 217.28)
Round 2: Robert Hight (4.613, 241.97) def. GRAY (no time, disqualified for hitting wall)

Matt Hagan, Aaron's Dream Machine Dodge Charger R/T
Qualified: No. 4
Round 1: Todd Lesenko (4.264 sec., 266.79 mph) def. HAGAN (4.325, 293.92)

NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING STANDINGS
(Through Phoenix; 2nd of 23 national events)
FUNNY CAR
1. Mike Neff, 196
2. Robert Hight, 154
3. John Force, 150
4. JACK BECKMAN, 137
5. RON CAPPS, 125
6. Courtney Force, 124
7. Todd Lesenko, 102
8. JOHNNY GRAY, 99
9. Jeff Arend, 84
10. Gary Densham, 83
11. MATT HAGAN, 74

TOP FUEL
Antron Brown, Matco Tools dragster
Qualified: No. 5
Round 1: BROWN def. (3.796 sec., 320.36 mph) def. Terry McMillen (3.857, 313.73)
Round 2: BROWN def. (3.888, 287.47) def. (3.987, 262.74)
Semifinals: BROWN (3.832, 313.51) def. Shawn Langdon (6.072, 106.18)
Final: BROWN (3.793 sec., 319.82 mph) def. Tony Schumacher (3.813, 318.17)
Event winner: Antron Brown

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army dragster
Qualified: No. 2
Round 1: SCHUMACHER (3.770 sec., 323.12 mph) def. Mark Strasburg (4.217, 208.91)
Round 2: SCHUMACHER (3.819, 315.12) def. Doug Kalitta (3.856, 307.65)
Semifinals: SCHUMACHER (3.819, 315.12) def. Clay Millican (8.924, 83.46)
Final: Antron Brown (3.793 sec., 319.82 mph) def. SCHUMACHER (3.813, 318.17

Spencer Massey, Prestone/FRAM dragster
Qualified: No. 4
Round 1: MASSEY (3.769 sec., 325.37 mph) def. Cory McClenathan (3.964, 255.73)
Round 2: Antron Brown (3.888, 287.47) def. MASSEY (3.987, 262.74)

NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING STANDINGS
(Through Phoenix; 2nd of 23 national events)
TOP FUEL
1. ANTRON BROWN, 212
2. TONY SCHUMACHER, 180
3. SPENCER MASSEY, 176
4. Morgan Lucas, 143
5. Shawn Langdon, 139
6. Clay Millican, 126
7. Steve Torrence, 89
7. Bob Vandergriff, 89
9. Brandon Bernstein, 85
9. Doug Kalitta, 85

NEXT UP
The DSR racing convoy of 19 rigs hits the highway Monday for its 1,689-mile jaunt back to headquarters in Brownsburg, Ind. The next NHRA event is the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals presented by NAPAfilters.com on March 8-11 in Gainesville, Fla.

FOLLOW DSR
Reports on DSR drivers from the NHRA Arizona Nationals can be found later Sunday night at ShoeRacing.com.
Follow DSR on Facebook at www.facebook.com/shoeracing and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/shoeracing.
More information can be found at NHRA.com.


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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 176 NHRA national event titles and nine world championships.