Despite a violent Funny Car explosion as the scoreboard flashed his 324.61-mph speed during qualifying Saturday for the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals, three-time series champion Ron Capps was unhurt and within minutes was telling FOX Sports’ Amanda Busick he and his crew were preparing to return for the final session.
He did and secured the No. 8 spot in the starting line-up.
The massive engine concussion came with Austin Prock in the opposite lane on the 1,000-foot course at Texas Motorplex. It disintegrated nearly all of the carbon-fiber body and lifted the entire rear of the NAPA Toyota high into the air for about 500 feet, while in-car camera footage showed Capps’s amazingly calm, steady hands steering the chassis straight and away from the wall.
He exited the car on his own and went straight to the wall to catch his breath.
Soon afterward, Capps—who posted a 3.899-second elapsed time on that ill-fated pass—said as he watched a video replay of the incident, “I was trying to run an .80 [a 3.80 E.T.], and it started just going left a little bit down there. I wasn’t sure maybe it had a hole out, but it didn’t feel like it did. I hate watching replays like this. It seemed like it was running fine. I didn’t see Austin. Yeah, right before the lights.
“We’ve had issues with the body staying on and the bad accident in Phoenix, the way the front end came down. Yeah, that’s a little worse. But it was one of the biggest concussions I’ve had in a while, and I am shocked it didn’t do more damage,” he said.
As he saw the rear of the car bounce into the air, Capps said, “Oh my God, look at that. That’ll make the highlight reel. That’s crazy. Obviously RevChem is a great partner—thanks to our great partners. So all the NAPA people, but Carlyle Tools especially, we got a good group with us, and a lot of friends flew in for this race.
“I’m sorry to make you nervous like that.”
Susan Wade has lived in the Seattle area for 40 years, but motorsports is in the Indianapolis native’s DNA. She has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with nearly 30 seasons at the racetrack, focusing on the human-interest angle. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, and Seattle Times. She has contributed to Autoweek as a freelance writer since 2016.
Source: www.autoweek.com
