BROWNSBURG, Ind. (March 7, 2013) – Ron Capps will slow down to race back in time this weekend.
Ron is at Bakersfield, Calif., to participate in the 55th annual March Meet on March 7-10 at the fabled Famosa Raceway. The first March Meet was held in 1961.
The current Funny Car points leader and driver of Don Schumacher Racing’s NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T is using a weekend off from the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series to in the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series that features nostalgic, quarter-mile drag racing led by classic Funny Cars and front-engine Top Fuel dragsters.
“The March Meet is really prestigious,” Ron said. “It’s an event when I was growing up on the Central Coast of California that I went to Famosa every with my dad to race or just to spectate. That’s where I got to stand for the first time next to legends like Don Garlits, James Warren ... those guys were my heroes as a kid and I had their pictures on my wall.”
Ron will drive Steve Plueger’s LA Hooker Plymouth Arrow nostalgia Funny Car that was made famous by the late driver Dave Condit. Ron drove the car in 2010 in the March Meet and completed a quarter-mile run in 5.703 seconds, which remains the NHRA nostalgia record.
“Just to be able to do a half-track burnout in a Funny Car that looks it’s from the 1970s is cool,” Ron said. “These cars look just like they did when I was a kid standing at the fence. It’s incredible how many fans show up, and it’s incredible just to drive one of them.”
Although the cars are about 60 mph slower than Ron NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge in which he won the Mello Yello title two weeks ago at Phoenix, his LA Hooker is challenging.
“These nostalgia cars don’t have the down-force compared to what we drive now and you have to shift. On the LA Hooker, we have a lever you have to pull to shift instead of the air-activated buttons on some other cars.
”You have to really listen to the car on each run, and there’s nothing to tell you when to shift. It’s a real throwback to when the driver was more important. When we get back to the pit area my job’s not done because I have to tell Steve what the run felt like. Computers are legal but we’re old-school.
“It’s all-around going back in time.”
Nearly 40 Funny Cars are expected to compete for the 16-car championship eliminations. Qualifying is Thursday, Friday and Saturday with eliminations to begin Saturday and continue on Sunday. For information: FamosoRaceway.com or NHRAHotRodHeritage.com.
Soon after Ron enjoys his visit to the past, he’ll begin preparing for a cross-country jaunt to Florida for the March 14-17 NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville where he has won twice (2006, 2007) in the Mello Yello series.
From: Jeff Wolf
More...
Ron is at Bakersfield, Calif., to participate in the 55th annual March Meet on March 7-10 at the fabled Famosa Raceway. The first March Meet was held in 1961.
The current Funny Car points leader and driver of Don Schumacher Racing’s NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T is using a weekend off from the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series to in the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series that features nostalgic, quarter-mile drag racing led by classic Funny Cars and front-engine Top Fuel dragsters.
“The March Meet is really prestigious,” Ron said. “It’s an event when I was growing up on the Central Coast of California that I went to Famosa every with my dad to race or just to spectate. That’s where I got to stand for the first time next to legends like Don Garlits, James Warren ... those guys were my heroes as a kid and I had their pictures on my wall.”
Ron will drive Steve Plueger’s LA Hooker Plymouth Arrow nostalgia Funny Car that was made famous by the late driver Dave Condit. Ron drove the car in 2010 in the March Meet and completed a quarter-mile run in 5.703 seconds, which remains the NHRA nostalgia record.
“Just to be able to do a half-track burnout in a Funny Car that looks it’s from the 1970s is cool,” Ron said. “These cars look just like they did when I was a kid standing at the fence. It’s incredible how many fans show up, and it’s incredible just to drive one of them.”
Although the cars are about 60 mph slower than Ron NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge in which he won the Mello Yello title two weeks ago at Phoenix, his LA Hooker is challenging.
“These nostalgia cars don’t have the down-force compared to what we drive now and you have to shift. On the LA Hooker, we have a lever you have to pull to shift instead of the air-activated buttons on some other cars.
”You have to really listen to the car on each run, and there’s nothing to tell you when to shift. It’s a real throwback to when the driver was more important. When we get back to the pit area my job’s not done because I have to tell Steve what the run felt like. Computers are legal but we’re old-school.
“It’s all-around going back in time.”
Nearly 40 Funny Cars are expected to compete for the 16-car championship eliminations. Qualifying is Thursday, Friday and Saturday with eliminations to begin Saturday and continue on Sunday. For information: FamosoRaceway.com or NHRAHotRodHeritage.com.
Soon after Ron enjoys his visit to the past, he’ll begin preparing for a cross-country jaunt to Florida for the March 14-17 NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville where he has won twice (2006, 2007) in the Mello Yello series.
From: Jeff Wolf
More...
