CAPPS IS NO. 4 AFTER TWO ROUNDS OF QUALIFYING IN TOPEKA
TOPEKA, Kan. (May 30, 2008) - Ron Capps grabbed the No. 4 spot in qualifying for the NHRA Summer Nationals following two qualifying sessions. Driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car, Capps first posted a No. 1 effort in the opening run, a 4.980-second elapsed time at 300.80 mph.
In his second attempt, he fell to No. 4 after recording a 4.911/287.17 under cooler conditions. Provisional pole went to Tony Bartone, who ran the only lap under 4.9 seconds, a 4.881/301.81.
"Not bad at all," said Capps. "It was actually on a much better run. We're not sure, but it looks like the fuel shutoff may have tried to close itself, and when it did that it got lean and basically burned a couple of pistons right before the finish line.
"It's part of working out the small kinks in this car. It was on a mid-4.80 run. It would've been No. 1. With the way this top 12 qualifying rule is, you want to be one of the top 12 on Friday no matter what. It's going to be hot tomorrow.
"One thing, these conditions are really hard on supercharger belts, and it's a tribute to our NAPA belts. Even though it exploded the supercharger burst panel, the belt was still on it. And that's a tribute to NAPA belts."
Two more qualifying sessions are scheduled for Saturday before the 16-car field is set.
