Ron Capps wrapped up his first career NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship title Saturday in qualifying for the NHRA Finals at Pomona. Photo: NHRA Media
Funny Car racer Ron Capps clinched his first NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world championship on Saturday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
Capps had a 92-point lead over second-place Matt Hagan when qualifying concluded and needed an 81-point lead to clinch. Before being crowned, Capps was the winningest driver, with 50 victories, to have not won a championship.
“I can’t even tell you how focused (crew chief) Rahn Tobler has been this year,” said Capps, who was the series runner-up in 1998, 2000, 2005 and 2012. “I almost gave up the chance of trying so hard and wishing so hard and just focused on winning races. With all the accolades I got this year – my 50th career win, passing some people I really looked up to in the sport with wins – that’s mind-boggling for me. This was the toughest Funny Car class ever and the 50th anniversary of the Funny Car, which was awesome. What a great, great season.”
In other racing action, J.R. Todd (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories. Antron Brown clinched the Top Fuel world title two weeks ago in Las Vegas while the Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle championships are still up for grabs.
Todd navigated the track in 3.680-seconds at 327.82 mph in his Top Fuel dragster to take the No. 1 spot. He will go head-to-head with Troy Buff in the first round.
“I thought maybe we would see a run like that last night or in tonight’s session, but not in the middle of the day like that with the sun on the track and the temperature up,” said Todd, who will look to earn his 10th career victory on Sunday. “It surprised me when I looked up and saw the scoreboard. This thing has been trying to run really well for a long time and here at the last handful of races it’s really come together. Hopefully we are going in the right direction for 2017.”
Doug Kalitta, Todd’s Kalitta Motorsports teammate, qualified second with a 3.709 at 327.90. Kalitta will open eliminations against Shawn Reed. Defending event winner Shawn Langdon is third and paired with Tripp Tatum while world champion Brown is fourth and matched against Morgan Lucas.
Beckman posted the second-quickest Funny Car pass in history when he raced to a 3.825 at 332.10 to claim the No. 1 qualifier. He will face John Bojec in the first round of eliminations.
“We were the last car down the track but you heard how fanatical the people were who stuck around,” said Beckman. “I think what made it really special was when we pulled back into our pits, the fans were six deep there and cheering and going crazy because they knew we did something really special. I was just one-tenth of a team that did something really special here.”
Courtney Force is second with a 3.869 at 324.83. She will go up against Jim Campbell to open eliminations. Tommy Johnson, Jr. is third and paired with Dave Richards while John Force is fourth and set to battle Cruz Pedregon.
In Pro Stock, Line pushed to a 6.545 at 211.33 to claim the No. 1 qualifier. He will begin Sunday’s eliminations with a 23-point advantage over teammate and second-place Greg Anderson. Line will race Alan Prusiensky in the first round.
“I’d rather be up 23 points than 19 points,” said Line. “The runs were nice. My first run this morning was very good and it was actually faster than we thought it could go. I think the track is going to be even better tomorrow. We’re pretty happy with everything. (Greg and I) are one and three in the two Summit cars and we have a chance to meet in the final. That’d be a storybook ending and it would be really fun to duke it out in the final.”
Bo Butner, teammate to Line and Anderson, is second with a 6.553 at 210.57. Butner will find Deric Kramer in the opposing lane Sunday morning. Anderson is third with a 6.555 at 210.80 and will go heads-up with Aaron Strong. Vincent Nobile is fourth and Alex Laughlin is fifth.
Savoie sprinted to his third consecutive No. 1 spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a 6.825 at 194.97. He will open eliminations against Angie Smith. Savoie has a four-point lead over competitor Eddie Krawiec and an 11-point lead over Andrew Hines.
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Krawiec qualified second with a 6.828 at 196.70. The three-time world champion is paired with Shawn Gann in the first round. Hector Arana, Jr. is third with a 6.856 at 195.51 and will race Fred Camarena, while Hines is fourth and matched up against Cory Reed.
Eliminations for the Auto Club NHRA Finals are scheduled to begin at 11 am on Sunday.
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series
Auto Club Raceway – Pomona, CA
Auto Club NHRA Finals – Nov. 12, 2016
Sunday’s First-Round Pairings
Top Fuel — 1. J.R. Todd, 3.680 seconds, 327.82 mph vs. 16. Troy Buff, 3.879, 305.49; 2. Doug Kalitta, 3.709, 327.90 vs. 15. Shawn Reed, 3.849, 319.22; 3. Shawn Langdon, 3.713, 327.43 vs. 14. Tripp Tatum, 3.815, 313.95; 4. Antron Brown, 3.713, 326.56 vs. 13. Morgan Lucas, 3.800, 322.65; 5. Leah Pritchett, 3.715, 328.62 vs. 12. Terry McMillen, 3.792, 323.89; 6. Steve Torrence, 3.716, 328.14 vs. 11. Wayne Newby, 3.766, 326.79; 7. Tony Schumacher, 3.723, 329.34 vs. 10. Clay Millican, 3.761, 321.88; 8. Brittany Force, 3.731, 323.27 vs. 9. Richie Crampton, 3.733, 320.66.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Scott Palmer, 3.953, 285.05; 18. Terry Haddock, 4.026, 235.39; 19. Steve Faria, 4.191, 212.16.
Funny Car — 1. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger, 3.825, 332.84 vs. 16. John Bojec, Toyota Camry, 4.029, 310.34; 2. Courtney Force, Chevy Camaro, 3.869, 324.83 vs. 15. Jim Campbell, Charger, 3.977, 302.82; 3. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 3.873, 326.95 vs. 14. Dave Richards, Ford Mustang, 3.975, 316.60; 4. John Force, Camaro, 3.879, 330.96 vs. 13. Cruz Pedregon, Camry, 3.950, 319.37; 5. Ron Capps, Charger, 3.883, 325.45 vs. 12. Chad Head, Camry, 3.945, 325.06; 6. Robert Hight, Camaro, 3.889, 329.75 vs. 11. Paul Lee, Camry, 3.935, 324.83; 7. Matt Hagan, Charger, 3.894, 330.72 vs. 10. Jeff Arend, Camry, 3.930, 317.19; 8. Del Worsham, Camry, 3.912, 327.35 vs. 9. Tim Wilkerson, Mustang, 3.920, 328.38.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Jon Capps, 4.053, 307.44; 18. Gary Densham, 4.071, 268.33; 19. Bob Bode, 4.103, 268.44; 20. Anthony Begley, 4.145, 286.50; 21. Brandon Welch, 4.249, 246.03; 22. John Hale, 4.390, 214.93.
Pro Stock — 1. Jason Line, Chevy Camaro, 6.545, 211.33 vs. 16. Alan Prusiensky, Dodge Dart, 6.659, 208.07; 2. Bo Butner, Camaro, 6.553, 210.57 vs. 15. Deric Kramer, Dart, 6.636, 209.04; 3. Greg Anderson, Camaro, 6.555, 211.30 vs. 14. Aaron Strong, Camaro, 6.626, 209.01; 4. Vincent Nobile, Camaro, 6.570, 211.13 vs. 13. Jeg Coughlin, Dart, 6.610, 208.78; 5. Alex Laughlin, Camaro, 6.570, 210.97 vs. 12. Erica Enders, Dart, 6.608, 210.05; 6. Shane Gray, Camaro, 6.573, 210.57 vs. 11. Matt Hartford, Camaro, 6.603, 209.95; 7. Drew Skillman, Camaro, 6.593, 210.37 vs. 10. Allen Johnson, Dart, 6.601, 209.82; 8. Kenny Delco, Camaro, 6.593, 209.92 vs. 9. Chris McGaha, Camaro, 6.594, 209.82.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Joey Grose, broke.
Pro Stock Motorcycle — 1. Jerry Savoie, Suzuki, 6.825, 196.19 vs. 16. Angie Smith, Victory, 6.965, 193.82; 2. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 6.828, 196.70 vs. 15. Shawn Gann, Buell, 6.952, 192.44; 3. Hector Arana Jr, Buell, 6.856, 195.65 vs. 14. Freddie Camarena, Suzuki, 6.916, 195.39; 4. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 6.856, 195.00 vs. 13. Cory Reed, Buell, 6.911, 192.80; 5. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 6.859, 195.73 vs. 12. Scotty Pollacheck, Buell, 6.909, 192.47; 6. Chip Ellis, Buell, 6.862, 195.79 vs. 11. LE Tonglet, Suzuki, 6.890, 195.48; 7. Hector Arana, Buell, 6.870, 196.82 vs. 10. Matt Smith, Victory, 6.889, 193.99; 8. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 6.872, 194.49 vs. 9. Melissa Surber, Buell, 6.879, 193.71.
Did Not Qualify: 17. Karen Stoffer, 6.988, 194.63; 18. Chaz Kennedy, 7.004, 191.16; 19. Jim Underdahl, 7.007, 193.60; 20. Luke Crowley, 7.021, 192.00; 21. Gunner Courtney, 7.084, 186.36; 22. Scott Bottorff, 7.086, 187.99; 23. Lance Bonham, 8.322, 185.66.
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