Wed, 17 Oct 2007, 12:28 AM Drivers use Last Chance to Test as Clock for Final Countdown Ticks On

Courtesy of NHRA Communications

LAS VEGAS -- Ron Capps turned in the best Funny Car performance of the first day of testing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway - the last time teams will have time to tweak before the inaugural Countdown to the Championship titles are decided.

Capps drove his Brut Revolution Dodge Charger to a 4.824-second run at 316.97 mph, the quickest of his Don Schumacher Racing-owned teammates. Testing continues until Thursday, one week before the NHRA POWERade Series comes to The Strip for the seventh annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals Oct. 25-28.

"Today was tricky because it was windy," said Capps, who's eager to earn his first world championship title after three runner-up finishes. "It just shows how competitive everyone is, because everyone was waiting to see who would run quickest. You could almost throw a blanket over them because they were all so close."

Capps enters the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals fourth in the point standings. Tony Schumacher, currently sitting third, was the quickest of two entries in Top Fuel, piloting his U.S. Army dragster to a 4.541 at 327.03, while Greg Anderson posted a 6.793 at 202.39 in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO. John Force's Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang made it back to the track with Phil Burkart Jr. behind the wheel, recording a 6.036 at 154.76, while the newest driver tapped for John Force Racing, Mike Neff, also made an appearance.

"(Ed) Ace (McCulloch) is real happy with what we did," Capps said. "To run as well as we did and to learn what we did, today was a great day for us."

TOP FUEL
Psn---Num-Driver, Home Town, Car Type-----------------TT-ET----TT-Spd-Top Spd
1    1 Tony Schumacher, Long Grove IL, Hadman-TFX      4.541  327.03  327.03
2    3 Brandon Bernstein, Fairview TX, McKinney-TFX    4.592  324.98  324.98

FUNNY CAR
Psn---Num-Driver, Home Town, Car Type-----------------TT-ET----TT-Spd-Top Spd
1   28 Ron Capps, Carlsbad CA, '07 Charger             4.824  316.97  316.97
2    7 Gary Scelzi, Fresno CA, '07 Charger             4.837  321.96  321.96
3  711 Jack Beckman, North Hills CA, '07 Charger       4.874  317.12  317.12
4 NEFF Mike Neff, Brownsburg IN, '07 Mustang           5.365  198.96  198.96
5  156 Phil Burkart Jr                                 6.036  154.76  154.76

PRO STOCK
Psn---Num-Driver, Home Town, Car Type-----------------TT-ET----TT-Spd-Top Spd
1    2 Greg Anderson, Mooresville NC, '06 GTO          6.793  202.39  203.16
2  712 Bob Panella, Stockton CA, '07 Stratus           6.873  201.01  201.01
3 5793 Gery Lockman, Wellington CA, '01 Cavalier       7.253  192.06  192.06