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MILLINGTON, Tenn. (Sept. 15, 2007) - Ron Capps and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch put the new Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car through its paces this weekend, and landed in No. 11 in qualifying for the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals.
Capps, fourth in the Countdown to Four standings, set his quickest lap, a 4.869-second pass at 311.70 mph, in the Friday-night session. His other passes included a 4.965/303.57, a 4.905/304.94, and a 4.880/317.05 in today's final run under cooler and less humid conditions.
"We're going down the track," said Capps, "and we're confident, but we feel like we're off a tenth (of a second) right now and Ace is up in the trailer right now scratching his head a little bit. We made some really big changes for what Ace usually does for a tune-up, but it doesn't' seem to respond like it usually does for him.
"That's the great thing about him. I can go to bed tonight and know that he's going to figure out why. We know it's going to get a little warmer again tomorrow and conditions will change again.
"It's a very tricky track. We're getting to some tracks with character. Each has lanes that need so many different ways to approach them as a driver, let alone as a crew chief.
"I tell you, in the Friday night session, every Funny Car driver I talked to said it was hard to see. None of us could see, and a lot of us almost shut our cars off because we couldn't see. So, it was good to get back in the day time, and focus on getting the race day set-up.
"We expected to run a high 4.70 or a mid-.70 and it's just not responding. It's almost like it's got a governor on it. But I can tell you, Ace and the Brut Dodge guys will work on it all night and will figure out why."
Capps faces Tony Pedregon in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.
CAPPS PLACES NEW CAR IN 11TH IN MEMPHIS
MILLINGTON, Tenn. (Sept. 15, 2007) - Ron Capps and crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch put the new Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car through its paces this weekend, and landed in No. 11 in qualifying for the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals.
Capps, fourth in the Countdown to Four standings, set his quickest lap, a 4.869-second pass at 311.70 mph, in the Friday-night session. His other passes included a 4.965/303.57, a 4.905/304.94, and a 4.880/317.05 in today's final run under cooler and less humid conditions.
"We're going down the track," said Capps, "and we're confident, but we feel like we're off a tenth (of a second) right now and Ace is up in the trailer right now scratching his head a little bit. We made some really big changes for what Ace usually does for a tune-up, but it doesn't' seem to respond like it usually does for him.
"That's the great thing about him. I can go to bed tonight and know that he's going to figure out why. We know it's going to get a little warmer again tomorrow and conditions will change again.
"It's a very tricky track. We're getting to some tracks with character. Each has lanes that need so many different ways to approach them as a driver, let alone as a crew chief.
"I tell you, in the Friday night session, every Funny Car driver I talked to said it was hard to see. None of us could see, and a lot of us almost shut our cars off because we couldn't see. So, it was good to get back in the day time, and focus on getting the race day set-up.
"We expected to run a high 4.70 or a mid-.70 and it's just not responding. It's almost like it's got a governor on it. But I can tell you, Ace and the Brut Dodge guys will work on it all night and will figure out why."
Capps faces Tony Pedregon in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.
