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NHRA: Capps On Top In Topeka; Dixon, Johnson Also Win
Written by: Rob Geiger - Go2Geiger.com
go2geiger.com   http://www.go2geiger.com
05/31/2009
Topeka, KS
 
Ron Capps extended his dominance over the Funny Car class Sunday by knocking off Ashley Force Hood to close out the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan.

Capps shared the sundrenched winner's circle at Heartland Park Topeka with Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon and Pro Stock veteran Allen Johnson, who ended almost a two-year winless streak.
Ron Capps continues to bring the heat, extending his points lead after a win in Topeka. (Go2Geiger.com) ยป More Photos

The season-long point leader, Capps was certainly ready for the final round, leaving Force Hood in the dust at the starting line with a .054 to .109-second reaction time advantage. Capps led the whole way down the track with Force Hood, one of Capps' few challengers this year, coming very close to the wall at the eighth-mile mark.

The final numbers showed Capps winning with a 4.265 at 286.07 mph in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T to Force Hood's resigned 4.495 at 238.26 mph.

"I told the crew guys in the staging lanes we were going to upset a bunch of fans if we beat Ashley in the final," Capps said. "My own daughter loves her, so I upset her too.

"We were expecting a 4.23, 4.24 out of her so I went for a good light and I kept peeking over there and never saw her. Then the win light came on.

"The people of Heartland Park Topeka and NHRA should be commended because was a one-lane track Friday and Saturday but they fixed it and we saw win lights in both lanes all day today and everyone was getting down the track. This was great drag racing."

Extending his lead to 119 points, Capps is now 4-1 in final rounds this season and 29-30 lifetime. Force Hood drops to 1-2 on the year and 2-6 for her career.

Like he did earlier this year in Gainesville, Fla., Capps shared the winner's circle with former teammate Dixon. That allowed Capps' crew chief Ed "the Ace" McCulloch to share another victorious moment with his son Jason McCulloch, who tune's Dixon's Al-Anabi dragster.

"At some point the Austin Coils, Tim Richards, and Dick LaHaies are gonna have to retire and it's great to see one of the next generation guys like Jason step up," Dixon said. "The fact he got to share the winner's circle again with his Dad is awesome. Everything about winning is good."

After a quick start by Millican in his
Motorvation dragster, Dixon quickly caught and passed the six-time IHRA champion to win by .0497 seconds with a 3.971 at 301.74 mph to Millican's 4.056 at 293.41 mph.

"The car's been great all year," Dixon said. "We tried some things yesterday that just didn't work because they just weren't right or because the track wouldn't allow it to happen, so we readjusted for today and made sure we could get down the track every time. Our mentality was that if someone fired a shot, we'd let 'em. We just wanted to make sure we didn't beat ourselves."

Dixon, 2-0 on the year and 45-40 overall, jumped from sixth to fourth on the day and now trails leader Tony Schumacher by 141 points. Millican remains winless in NHRA competition with an 0-4 record in final rounds.

The Pro Stock final was decided by .0025 seconds after a thrilling door-handle-to-door-handle race all the way down the strip. In the end, the slight .035 to .045-second advantage Johnson got at the starting line gave him the holeshot victory over a slightly quicker Edwards. Johnson wins with a 6.726 at 204.94 mph in his Dodge Stratus R/T to Edwards' 6.718 at 205.88 mph in the Young Life/ART Pontiac GXP.

"I felt a little pressure in the final because I know Mike is always tough," Johnson said. "Thankfully, I did my job this time and we got the win. That hasn't always been the case because I feel like we should have won 10 races in the last year and a half except the driver didn't do his job.

"I have blinders on and I didn't look over until about 1,000 feet. I saw I had a fender on him there but when I looked over at the finish line it was so close I didn't know who had won. He was coming hard."

Johnson last victory came almost two years ago in July of 2007 at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver. He improves to 1-1 this year and 6-10 lifetime. Edwards is 2-2 this year and 15-18 ooverall.

Jeg Coughlin Jr., who lost to Edwards in the semis, remains in the point lead for the fifth consecutive race.
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