It\u2019s hard to believe there was a time when Ron Capps, one of the most tenured drivers in the sport of NHRA Drag Racing, was considered a rookie but at next weekend\u2019s NHRA Arizona Nationals, the three-time Funny Car world champion is sure to be flooded with memories as he reflects on a multi-decade career, which began at Firebird Motorsports Park 30 years prior.<\/p>\n
Capps made his professional debut aboard Roger Primm\u2019s Top Fuel dragster during the 1995 Phoenix event, making next weekend\u2019s annual race at the Chandler, Arizona facility his 632nd as the wheelman of a nitromethane-powered race car. Among active Mission Foods Series competitors, Capps is the fourth-most senior driver. His 75 Funny Car wins rank second in the category only to John Force, who carries an 18-year advantage over Capps, and his 76 overall wins (one Top Fuel) place him sixth on NHRA\u2019s all-time victories list. He is one of only 18 drivers in NHRA history to have claimed a win in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories.<\/p>\n
Capps, 58, has raced for some of the biggest names in the sport, including Don Prudhomme and the late super-team owner Don Schumacher. In 2022 he launched Ron Capps Motorsports (RCM), where he serves as both the owner and driver of his namesake operation. RCM has already been successful in capturing eight national event wins, seven poles, and a championship crown in its first two full seasons. The former ESPN ESPY \u2018Best Driver\u2019 Award nominee is a two-time U.S. Nationals champion and is on track to surpass 900 round wins during the 2024 season. With his 30-year \u2018nitro-versary\u2019 approaching next week, the driver of the NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra took time to look back on the first 29 years of his storied career: Realistically, how long do you see yourself continuing to drive?<\/em><\/strong> Is there any one moment that stands out to you the most in these first 30 years?<\/em><\/strong> Capps and his Ron Capps Motorsports NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team will begin qualifying for the NHRA Arizona Nationals on Friday, April 5 at 4:30 p.m. local time. Capps will also participate in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, which is scheduled for Q1 and Q2. He is set to square off against John Force, his semifinal opponent from the NHRA Winternationals in the first round of the specialty race presented by Mission Foods.<\/p>\n This story was originally published on March 28, 2024. <\/p>\n The post Ron Capps Celebrates 30 Years Behind the Wheel During NHRA Arizona Nationals<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s hard to believe there was a time when Ron Capps, one of the most tenured drivers in the sport of NHRA Drag Racing, was considered a rookie but at next weekend\u2019s NHRA Arizona Nationals, the three-time Funny Car world champion is sure to be flooded with memories as he reflects on a multi-decade career, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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For the longest time, everyone was speculating about when you would finally win your first championship and you\u2019ve now won three in the past eight years. Then the conversation became \u2018When will Ron Capps finally win the U.S. Nationals,\u2019 and here you are heading into that event this year looking for a third consecutive victory. What\u2019s the next item on the list that you\u2019re hoping to accomplish?<\/em><\/strong>
Ron Capps:<\/strong>\u00a0You wait so long to win a championship and then when you\u2019re trying to win another, you kind of forget you already won one when you\u2019re battling for the next. And, that\u2019s how it felt coming out of DSR and driving for Don for so long and winning the championship. Then, becoming a team owner the following year and we had the No. 1 sticker on our car, you think how content would you be to do it again. Well, every race you forget that No. 1 is on the car, so when we went back to back (in 2022), that was an unbelievable achievement for Guido (crew chief Dean Antonelli) and the guys and our organization. So, really the goal is winning more championships. Seeing (Matt) Hagan win a fourth last year, that stung a bit because you want to be the one to get that next one. There are a lot of drivers in that three-time group, but gosh, 10 years ago I would have given a limb to even win one, so it really is all relative.<\/p>\n
RC:<\/strong>\u00a0My mentality is still to get myself as prepped as can be every season, especially with all of the new drivers coming up. We\u2019ve got some unbelievable, young drivers in the sport. It\u2019s what I think of when I get up in the morning; how to be better at everything. And then you throw the company ownership onto that, there\u2019s a lot more to it. I used to have to just worry about being the best driver and best brand representative but now there\u2019s a lot more on my brain. But, I\u2019m still so motivated. I\u2019ve had the conversation with Don Prudhomme and he\u2019s one of the few that when he retired, he actually retired. He didn\u2019t come back after some time and \u2018unretire\u2019 or do any one-off races, or pop back into the sport. He said one morning, he just wasn\u2019t motivated to get into the race car and get his firesuit on and that\u2019s how he knew it was time. I\u2019ve already got an eyeball out the side looking at younger drivers for a chance to add a team, but to be honest, the topic of me retiring from driving, I don\u2019t even see it on the horizon at this point. John Force is a great barometer, he\u2019s a rare breed to go this long. It sets the tone for a lot of people in the sport.
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You say you have your eye on some up-and-coming drivers. So, what is your long-term plan for RCM? Do you mean that you\u2019re looking for someone to eventually fill your seat, or to expand the organization by adding another car?<\/em><\/strong>
RC:<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019re already looking at adding a dragster. I\u2019ve been a part of multi-car teams. When I first signed on with Don Prudhomme, I jumped right into a multi-car team \u2013 two Funny Cars and a dragster, and then when I went to Don Schumacher\u2019s, he had seven teams at that time. Guido and I have talked about expanding and I\u2019ve always said, I\u2019ll only do it when Guido feels like we\u2019re ready; he\u2019s the leader of our team. If he\u2019s okay with adding a car, which he is, we\u2019ll add a Top Fuel dragster. So, we\u2019ve already started that process and will do it at the right time. It\u2019s something we\u2019re actively working towards but we\u2019re not going to just jump at the first thing that comes our way. It has to be the right fit, and it has to all make sense.
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Why not add a second Funny Car?<\/em><\/strong>
RC:<\/strong>\u00a0Because we don\u2019t want to race against ourselves. With Guido calling the shots, I know we\u2019ll have two of the best cars out there and we don\u2019t want to be in a position where we\u2019re having to race ourselves.<\/p>\n
RC:<\/strong>\u00a0There\u2019s always those big moments \u2013 the first win, of course, when I was in Top Fuel and to beat such big teams like we did was really incredible, but if I had to pick just one, it would be winning Indy last year in the Don Prudhomme Hot Wheels tribute car. You just couldn\u2019t have scripted that any better. The fans just absolutely loved that car, and to win with it at the biggest race of the year and have Don Prudhomme there and share the winner\u2019s circle with him and go to a team dinner with him afterward, it was all just completely surreal.\u00a0
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You have a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience, both as a driver and now as a team owner. What\u2019s one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting out in their driving career? And a piece of advice to someone who may be interested in pursuing the team ownership route?<\/em><\/strong>
RC:<\/strong>\u00a0The advice I always give to kids is to try and keep your mouth shut and your ears open more than the other way around. That\u2019s what helped me in my career. On the ownership side, it was something I had been offered multiple times well before I actually made the leap and I\u2019m glad I waited. The timing was right. Now that I\u2019m three years in, I would certainly make sure someone knew what they were getting themselves into at the level that we race at because there is way more to it than I had imagined. I thought there was going to be a lot, but I had no idea.<\/p>\n