Three-time Funny Car champion Ron Capps is no stranger to winning NHRA Mission Food Drag Racing Series races, especially recently at the Texas Motorplex, home of the 39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals, which is the main event of the 10-day Stampede of Speed. This weekend, Capps will be looking to make a splash to open the second half of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.<\/p>\n
Capps and his 11,000-horsepower NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra team\u00a0have three wins at the legendary facility and after four final round finishes this season, Capps, who is fourth in points, hopes this weekend\u2019s Texas NHRA FallNationals is where he breaks through for his first win of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old clich\u00e9 of \u2018everything\u2019s bigger in Texas\u2019 definitely holds true for us in the NHRA,\u201d Capps said. \u201cThe FallNationals is what I call a momentum weekend and it always has been. It\u2019s either going to put you in the place you want to be with two races left to go in the Countdown to the Championship, or it can be the place that takes you completely out of the hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last season, Leah Pruett (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all collected NHRA wins in Dallas and this year\u2019s race will again be broadcast on FS1, with elimination coverage airing at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday Oct. 13. It is the fourth of six races in the Countdown to the Championship and the 18th of 20 races during the 2024 season.<\/p>\n
A Texas-sized playoff showdown starts with \u201cFriday Night Live,\u201d which offers more than $40,000 in bonus money to the stars in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. The low qualifier under the lights on Friday night will net Top Fuel and Funny Car stars $15,000 each in bonus money, with $7,500 going to the quickest qualifier in Pro Stock and $5,000 in Pro Stock Motorcycle.<\/p>\n
Capps picked up wins in Dallas in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022, victories that paved the way for back-to-back world championships as well. He is currently fourth in the Funny Car points standings, following his recent runner-up finish in St. Louis to Jack Beckman, who is racing in place of John Force, and is 194 points out of first.<\/p>\n
If Capps wants to be in the championship hunt, he\u2019ll need to get past points leader Austin Prock, who has seven wins on the season and won the first two races in the playoffs. Beckman sits second (105 points back) and Bob Tasca III in third (-159), thanks to his three wins this season. Reigning champion and defending Texas NHRA FallNationals winner Hagan rounds out the top five, and Capps knows he has work to do to stay alive in the title hunt and also pick up his long-awaited first victory of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the years we won the championship and had good seasons where we battled for the title, the Dallas race at Texas Motorplex was always one that was sort of a make it or break it for us, and a lot of other teams as well,\u201d said Capps, who has 76 career victories. \u201cSo for us, we\u2019re looking to this race to build on the momentum our NAPA Auto Care team has after coming off another final round in St. Louis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Top Fuel\u2019s Pruett stepped out of her dragster at the start of the season and headed driving duties over to her husband and motorsports legend Tony Stewart. Stewart, a four-time winner at Texas Motor Speedway, has a runner-up finish to his credit this season and will be looking for his first career Top Fuel win. He\u2019ll be up against points leader and three-time champion Antron Brown, standout Justin Ashley, former champ Shawn Langdon and reigning champion Doug Kalitta.<\/p>\n
Enders, a Texas native, has three wins at the Texas Motorplex. She\u2019s looking for her first win since the season-opener while trying to track down points leader Dallas Glenn, who has back-to-back wins, teammate Aaron Stanfield and longtime rival Greg Anderson.<\/p>\n
Herrera won the Texas NHRA FallNationals last year, setting class records in the process, en route to the world title. He\u2019s back in the points lead after his St. Louis win. The six-time champ Matt Smith is in second, while others to watch include John Hall, Angie Smith, 2023 NHRA Rookie of the Year Chase Van Sant, Richard Gadson and Jianna Evaristo.<\/p>\n
The Texas NHRA FallNationals also will feature thrilling competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, which includes some of the sport\u2019s top drivers and begins racing on Wednesday. The weekend will include the exciting new Holley EFI Factory X category and the Jr. Dragster Shootout, as well as a jet dragster exhibition after nitro qualifying on Friday.<\/p>\n
Fans will also be treated to the JEG\u2019s Allstar event, which pits sportsman racers from across the country against each other for the ultimate drag racing battle. After a successful first year at the famed Texas Motorplex in 2023, the unique specialty race is back as a major highlight of the 2024 Stampede of Speed as one of most highly-anticipated sportsman events of the year.<\/p>\n
Fans will be invited all weekend long to the Nitro Alley Stage, which is the main entertainment hub in the pits, hosting Nitro School, meet and greets, music and much more. Race fans at Texas Motorplex can enjoy the special pre-race ceremonies that introduce and celebrate each of the drivers racing for the prestigious Wally on Sunday and includes the fan favorite SealMaster Track Walk. The final can\u2019t-miss experience of any NHRA event is the winner\u2019s circle celebration on Sunday after racing concludes, where fans are invited to congratulate the Texas NHRA FallNationals event winners.<\/p>\n
As always, fans can get a pit pass to the most powerful and sensory-filled motorsports attraction on the planet. Fans can see their favorite teams in action and servicing their hot rods between rounds, get autographs from their favorite NHRA drivers, and more. They can also visit NHRA\u2019s Manufacturers Midway, where sponsors and race vendors create an exciting atmosphere that includes interactive displays, merchandise, food, and fun.<\/p>\n
Leading into the race, fans can take part in several events as part of the 10-day Stampede for Speed festival. That includes the Champions\u2019 Dinner (October 9, 6 p.m.) and the Pre-Stage Fan Fest at Railyard Park in downtown Waxahachie (October 10, 6 p.m.), where fans can meet and get autographs from all the top stars in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and the JEGS Allstars participants.<\/p>\n
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 4:15 and 7:00 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 11, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CT on Sunday, Oct. 13. Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday and as well as action from eliminations at 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
To purchase tickets to the Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex, call 800-668-6775 or visit\u00a0tickets.texasmotorplex.com<\/a>. Children 12 and under are admitted free in general admissions areas with a paid adult. For more information about NHRA, visit\u00a0www.nhra.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n This story was originally published on October 10, 2024. <\/p>\n The post Funny Car Veteran Ron Capps Looks for Success at Texas NHRA FallNationals to Close Out Stampede of Speed<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three-time Funny Car champion Ron Capps is no stranger to winning NHRA Mission Food Drag Racing Series races, especially recently at the Texas Motorplex, home of the 39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals, which is the main event of the 10-day Stampede of Speed. This weekend, Capps will be looking to make a splash to open […]<\/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-96396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96396","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=96396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}