Ron Capps, crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch and the NAPA Susan G. Komen for the Cure Dodge Funny Car
team benefited from outstanding track and weather conditions at Virginia Motorsports Park, just
south of Richmond, Va., to earn the No. 2 spot in qualifying for the NHRA Virginia Nationals.
Capps, who recorded a solid 4.046-second lap at 308.71 mph in the final session, which placed him
No. 1 at the time, had his effort eclipsed by his teammate Jack Beckman, who edged him out with a
4.044/305.22 run. Beckman held on to the No. 1 spot to the finish, while the third member of the
DSR trio, Matt Hagan, claimed No. 3 with the 4.051/309.49 he used to stun the crowd for No. 1 in
the third session.
Capps' other attempts yielded a 4.225/288.83 (No. 10), a 4.171/300.93 (No. 14), and a 4.120/307.93
(No. 10).
"That was a great job by Ace and the NAPA guys," said Capps, who earned two qualifying bonus points
in the Countdown to 1 playoffs for his effort. "Obviously, we've been a little slow sneaking up on
it. We felt like it was in the car. Ace was a little disappointed with the 4.12 we ran earlier. We
thought it had more in it, but it really blew through the clutch and a lot of teams underestimated
the track.
"We're slowly sneaking back up to where this car was earlier in the year and Ace is comfortable
with this car.
"It's going to be fun on race day from here on out because we know we have a hot rod. Now, we have
to go back and start racking the points back up," added Capps, who is fifth in the Countdown to 1
standings.
"It's great for Jack Beckman to get No. 1 and keep it in-house at Don Schumacher Racing."
Capps faces Jerry Toliver in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.
