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NHRA
NHRA: Capps Ends Force’s Funny Car Domination
Ron Capps finally ended the Funny Car dominance of John Force Racing on Sunday in the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.
Ron Capps finally broke JFR's hold on the Funny Car category in 2012. (Photo: NHRA)
NAPA Auto Parts Dodge driver Ron Capps finally ended the Funny Car dominance of John Force Racing on Sunday in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.
Capps, making his third final-round appearance in a row, left first, held a slim lead at halftrack and pulled away from Robert Hight in the final 500 feet to get his first victory of 2012 and halt JFR's win streak at six.
"I knew it was going to run a little better (than in the semifinals), or try to," Capps said. "It made a little move and the clutch came in sooner than I expected. ... I could hear Robert early and I thought, 'If he is next to me this is gonna be a good drag race. I hope I left on time.' All of sudden, that power came in and we went."
Capps, who had lane choice after a dominating semifinal performance, made his winning pass in 4.166 seconds at 303.91 mph to best Hight's run of 4.399 at 273.44 mph.
It is Capps' first victory over Hight, who remains the points leader, in three final round tries, and it improves the Don Schumacher Racing driver to 13-5 on the season and 438-320 in his career. He now owns 34 event victories in 73 career finals.
"This team is my old team, and it is the same guys," said Rahn Tobler, crew chief for Capps. "The only thing we got different was Ron as a driver and NAPA as a sponsor. ... What can you say about Ron? He is a veteran guy that has been driving for 14 or 15 years.
"I knew when I came (to DSR) that Jack (Beckman) was great and we had a great thing together. And I knew when I came here that I was not going to lose anything with the driver. We have worked well together."
Hight falls to 41-28 in final rounds and 4-1 in five appearances this season.
"I am the luckiest guy in the world to be driving this car," said Capps, who sits second in points. "Now I know why Jack Beckman was so excited about his crew and spoke so highly of them. This is just such a great group of guys."
While Capps was grabbing his first win of the season, Top Fuel driver Steve Torrence was picking up the first win of his career.
Torrence helped push Tony Schumacher's winless streak to 30 events when he beat the seven-time champion in the finals.
Torrence, who was making his first appearance in the final round, drove his Capco Contractors dragster to the easy win over Schumacher, who went up in smoke just past the starting line.
"To start a new team and get our first win here is a big deal for us," Torrence said. "We are 10 races into this new team. ... To get this first win is unbelievable. To do it here in Atlanta is awesome – it is a great race track. It just hasn't caught up to me yet."
Schumacher, who takes over the points lead, had the starting-line advantage on the 29-year-old Torrence. But Torrennce soon took over and dominated the rest of the race.
Torrence won his first Wally with a final-round pass in 3.893 at 320.66 mph.
"The Army car, that thing has been the pinnacle for years," Torrence said. "Tony Schumacher, that guy is a machine. I knew that I had to be on my game and (crew chief) Richard (Hogan) gave me the car to do it. It is a little intimidating. ... But to be honest, I thought I had a better race car than those guys today."
Torrence defeated J.R. Todd to start the day, before following that up with wins over Bob Vandergriff in the quarterfinals and Brandon Bernstein in the semifinals.
"Hopefully, this is the start to a lot of good things," said Torrence, who moves up to fifth in the points.
It was an all Summit Racing Equipment final in the Pro Stock class when defending class champion Jason Line took on Greg Anderson.
Anderson left first and held it all the way down the track for the victory.
"We are very happy as a team," said Anderson, who picked up his fourth win in Atlanta. "It just feels great. It is like if one guy doesn't have a great race, the two other cars can go rounds and absolutely win races. You saw that today – three Summit Pontiacs in the semifinals. That doesn't happen to often on a multi-car team, so it is a pretty good feeling."
Anderson, who built on his points lead with the win, made his .039 off the tree to Line's .081 stand up. Anderson finished his run in 6.649 at 208.26 mph, while Line's pass came in 6.618 at 209.62 mph.
Anderson improves to 19-4 on the season, while picking up his third event victory in five final-round appearances in 2012.
"We are digging as hard as we can," Anderson said. "It is a tough, tough class where anybody can win. You see it every weekend. But somehow we have been fortunate enough to get the majority of them so far this year."
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider Eddie Krawiec was first off the tree and first across the finish line to beat Matt Smith Racing Buell rider Michael Ray in the final round.
"I have got a killer motorcycle under me right now," Krawiec said.
Ray, making his first final round appearance, was behind from the start after the defending PSM champion got off the line in .028, his best of the day.
Krawiec earned his second victory of the season when he finished off his run in 6.905 at 195.53 mph, while Ray made his pass in 7.036 at 187.94.
"Michael Ray is coming around," Krawiec said. "I used to race against him in the AMA series. But you look at him and he is making better runs down the track and he is getting more runs under his belt."
Krawiec, who takes over the points lead from Andrew Hines, opened the day with an opening round win over Michael Phillips, before following that up with wins over Karen Stoffer in the quarterfinals and Sean Gann in the semifinals.
Capps, making his third final-round appearance in a row, left first, held a slim lead at halftrack and pulled away from Robert Hight in the final 500 feet to get his first victory of 2012 and halt JFR's win streak at six.
"I knew it was going to run a little better (than in the semifinals), or try to," Capps said. "It made a little move and the clutch came in sooner than I expected. ... I could hear Robert early and I thought, 'If he is next to me this is gonna be a good drag race. I hope I left on time.' All of sudden, that power came in and we went."
Capps, who had lane choice after a dominating semifinal performance, made his winning pass in 4.166 seconds at 303.91 mph to best Hight's run of 4.399 at 273.44 mph.
It is Capps' first victory over Hight, who remains the points leader, in three final round tries, and it improves the Don Schumacher Racing driver to 13-5 on the season and 438-320 in his career. He now owns 34 event victories in 73 career finals.
"This team is my old team, and it is the same guys," said Rahn Tobler, crew chief for Capps. "The only thing we got different was Ron as a driver and NAPA as a sponsor. ... What can you say about Ron? He is a veteran guy that has been driving for 14 or 15 years.
"I knew when I came (to DSR) that Jack (Beckman) was great and we had a great thing together. And I knew when I came here that I was not going to lose anything with the driver. We have worked well together."
Hight falls to 41-28 in final rounds and 4-1 in five appearances this season.
"I am the luckiest guy in the world to be driving this car," said Capps, who sits second in points. "Now I know why Jack Beckman was so excited about his crew and spoke so highly of them. This is just such a great group of guys."
While Capps was grabbing his first win of the season, Top Fuel driver Steve Torrence was picking up the first win of his career.
Torrence helped push Tony Schumacher's winless streak to 30 events when he beat the seven-time champion in the finals.
Torrence, who was making his first appearance in the final round, drove his Capco Contractors dragster to the easy win over Schumacher, who went up in smoke just past the starting line.
"To start a new team and get our first win here is a big deal for us," Torrence said. "We are 10 races into this new team. ... To get this first win is unbelievable. To do it here in Atlanta is awesome – it is a great race track. It just hasn't caught up to me yet."
Schumacher, who takes over the points lead, had the starting-line advantage on the 29-year-old Torrence. But Torrennce soon took over and dominated the rest of the race.
Torrence won his first Wally with a final-round pass in 3.893 at 320.66 mph.
"The Army car, that thing has been the pinnacle for years," Torrence said. "Tony Schumacher, that guy is a machine. I knew that I had to be on my game and (crew chief) Richard (Hogan) gave me the car to do it. It is a little intimidating. ... But to be honest, I thought I had a better race car than those guys today."
Torrence defeated J.R. Todd to start the day, before following that up with wins over Bob Vandergriff in the quarterfinals and Brandon Bernstein in the semifinals.
"Hopefully, this is the start to a lot of good things," said Torrence, who moves up to fifth in the points.
It was an all Summit Racing Equipment final in the Pro Stock class when defending class champion Jason Line took on Greg Anderson.
Anderson left first and held it all the way down the track for the victory.
"We are very happy as a team," said Anderson, who picked up his fourth win in Atlanta. "It just feels great. It is like if one guy doesn't have a great race, the two other cars can go rounds and absolutely win races. You saw that today – three Summit Pontiacs in the semifinals. That doesn't happen to often on a multi-car team, so it is a pretty good feeling."
Anderson, who built on his points lead with the win, made his .039 off the tree to Line's .081 stand up. Anderson finished his run in 6.649 at 208.26 mph, while Line's pass came in 6.618 at 209.62 mph.
Anderson improves to 19-4 on the season, while picking up his third event victory in five final-round appearances in 2012.
"We are digging as hard as we can," Anderson said. "It is a tough, tough class where anybody can win. You see it every weekend. But somehow we have been fortunate enough to get the majority of them so far this year."
In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson rider Eddie Krawiec was first off the tree and first across the finish line to beat Matt Smith Racing Buell rider Michael Ray in the final round.
"I have got a killer motorcycle under me right now," Krawiec said.
Ray, making his first final round appearance, was behind from the start after the defending PSM champion got off the line in .028, his best of the day.
Krawiec earned his second victory of the season when he finished off his run in 6.905 at 195.53 mph, while Ray made his pass in 7.036 at 187.94.
"Michael Ray is coming around," Krawiec said. "I used to race against him in the AMA series. But you look at him and he is making better runs down the track and he is getting more runs under his belt."
Krawiec, who takes over the points lead from Andrew Hines, opened the day with an opening round win over Michael Phillips, before following that up with wins over Karen Stoffer in the quarterfinals and Sean Gann in the semifinals.
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