Carlsbad’s Ron Capps feeling like NHRA rookie again

Ron Capps is 56 years old and in his 27th season as one of drag racing’s top drivers.

But in some ways, Capps feels like a rookie this National Hot Rod Association season, which is what made last Sunday’s first Funny Car win of the season in the pandemic-delayed Winternationals so gratifying.

Not only did Capps start this season with a new crew chief and support team, he started the year in a radically different car.

“After two decades of knowing exactly where everything was in the cockpit and how things were set up and how the car handled, I had to relearn all that,” said Capps. “What I’m doing now in a race is not considered normal to me … so much is new.”

Those are not easy adjustments to make at 325 mph.

“Performance-wise, I knew we were going to win because of the car and the team,” said Capps. “It was more of a question of when.”

The answer was Sunday at Pomona in weather conditions that were very unWinternationals.

The temperature in the air was 100 degrees. The temperature on the surface of the 1,000-foot track was 150 degrees. And it was humid. “Every driver had problems with the conditions,” said Capps, a long-time resident of Carlsbad. “We managed ours.”

How hot was it?

“Usually, rubber from the tires gets layered on the track. But on Sunday, the rubber would dry up and become a powder on the surface.”

Bottom line …

“That was probably the most extreme conditions I’ve driven a Funny Car in, and probably the funnest car to drive,” said Capps, who also took over the points lead in the nitro-burning Funny Car with his win. “Every run we would go up there and everybody is tearing their hair out trying to get down the track with a lot of weird stuff happening.”

“You can’t really put a price on winning the Winternationals in July. I mean, it doesn’t get any more special. But the conditions were miserable, miserable in the stands, miserable in the car.”

Which says something given the fact that Sunday was 2016 world champion Capps’ 67th career victory.

It was also his first win for crew chief Dean Antonelli, who was teamed with Capps at Don Schumacher Racing after the driver’s crew chief of a decade (Rahn Tobler) suddenly retired in January and the team owner consolidated parts of his multi-car team.

With Antonelli came the radically different “experimental” car he developed last season.

“They let me adapt to the new car,” said Capps. “I tried not to make mistakes. We knew the car was fast and a winner. I didn’t want to be the weak link. We knew a win was coming. And Sunday was the perfect time.”

The win leapfrogged Capps from fifth to first in the regular season standings with three races to go before the start of the playoffs.

“We’ve consistently piled up points this year,” said Capps, who twice lost in the finals before his first win. “We haven’t been beating ourselves. Our losses have come in very close races. That’s been very encouraging.”

Also encouraging is the fact that the last three races of the regular season are on some of Capps’ favorite tracks — and coming as the driver is negotiating a three-year extension with his team and his NAPA sponsor of 13 years.

Capps has always prided himself on his relations with fans and his sponsor.

“I remember flying home from our last event before the COVID shutdown,” said Capps. “I asked myself how can I stay relevant and help the sport.”

He joined an I-Racing League using driving simulators against the likes of Tony Kanaan and Bobby Labonte. “We had a million fans watching,” said Capps. “It helped me get through it.”

Center is a freelance writer.