March 2009 Archives

Above: Ron Capps looks for a 3-peat this weekend.

What a difference a year makes?
For Ron Capps a lot.
The Funny Car veteran, who failed to crack the top 10 last season, is now the guy to beat in Funny Car after scoring wins at Pomona and Phoenix. He now comes to South Florida and the Gatornationals, where he's had success in the past.
I like him this weekend, but here's some comments about the Cal native:
"When we won the Gators and went back to back and then won Houston I never would have thought that could have happened," Capps said. "So, anything is possible. What happens when you start running well is it puts pressure on other teams that race against you. And I've been in the other position where guys are hot and when it's your time to race them you definitely know it. So, you approach the race a little bit differently. You know you have to get after it, you know they're going to go down the track.
"I've been on both sides of the fence and I definitely like being on this side. It's great exposure for NAPA because that's what we should have done last year: given them at least a couple of wins. (Capps was winless in 2008, the first year NAPA AUTO PARTS came on board.) We feel like we're making up for lost ground and we are where we should be.
"One thing I've learned having won in Gainesville is that you take nothing for granted, especially the weather. More than likely, the conditions are not going to be mineshaft conditions unless you have a storm come in with cool weather because we're at the part of March where we have some sunshine, some humidity. If you look back at the elapsed times that won rounds when we won those two races there, they weren't stellar. We took what the track would give us and that's what I really love about racing with Ace (crew chief Ed McCullough). He knows when to race the race track and not your opponent."