The NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) gets set for their return this weekend at Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indianapolis. NHRA veteran Ron Capps and Don Schumacher Racing look to cross another track off his list.
Surprisingly, in his illustrious NHRA career, the California native has not been able to score the victory in Indianapolis but he has been close multiple times, especially being the runner up in 2017. Since then, Capps hasn’t been back in the finals. Last year, the NAPA team qualified fourth but got knocked out early in the first round by Ray Martin in E1.
“2020 has been full of surprises, to say the least,” Capps said. “It’s going to be nice to get a little bit of normalcy back in our racing lives. Once NHRA announced that we had these two races in Indianapolis, it didn’t seem like it was going to get here fast enough, and now we’re finally here. The fact that we’re going to be on FOX network on Sunday is a great thing for motorsports fans.”
By being in Indianapolis this weekend, Capps notes that summer time temperatures will prove a challenge to everyone competing.
“It’s going to be a treacherous, hot, humid weekend, which we know can be very difficult, especially with 11,000-horsepower nitro engines,” Capps added. “I brag about the NAPA Know How with our team and we’ve shown that we can run in those conditions as good as anybody. This is going to test a lot of people. We’ll get a couple of shakedown runs on Friday, and then it’s just two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, so you’re not going to have a whole lot of data to go off of. That’s why the way that Rahn Tobler, and I, and our whole NAPA team work together is so important, and these conditions will test every bit of every crew member. I’m looking forward to the challenge. Can’t wait to get back into the NAPA car and step on the gas for the first time and just relive what made me fall in love with driving a nitro Funny Car. Hopefully, the NAPA team will be on FOX on Sunday afternoon standing with a Wally from Indianapolis.”
Should Capps finally bring home the wally, the Don Schumacher Racing driver will have won at every race track in his NHRA career.
To note, Capps has three round wins so far in 2020, and is currently ranked fourth in the Funny Car points standings.
