Funny first: Capps is in

Above: Ron Capps became the first Funny Car driver to qualify for the upcoming
NHRA "playoffs."

Funny Car driver Ron Capps, who has come up short in his quest to win his first NHRA championship, officially gets another shot.
The veteran, after making a pass of 4.215 seconds during the first round of qualifying at the Fram Autolite Nationals in Somona today, clinched his spot in the NHRA's Countdown to 1 playoffs.
"Obviously, it feels great to have clinched a spot in the Countdown," said Capps, who sits atop the Funny Car points standings after winning a class-best five national events coming into this weekend's event. "We have a lot of unfinished business. We want to stay No. 1 going into the Countdown. But to know that you're already going to be involved in the Countdown takes a little bit of pressure off, for sure.
"And now we can sit back and watch everybody else battle."
Now the question is who will join him.