Ron Capps and his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team added another strong finish to their 2025 campaign with a final-round appearance at the Muckleshoot Casino & Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals. Competing at Pacific Raceways, a venue rich in history for the three-time world champion, Capps delivered a string of consistent runs to reach his fourth final round of the season and the 156th final round of his decorated career.
Capps opened the weekend by battling through challenging track conditions during qualifying. He lost traction in Q1 on Friday and Q3 on Saturday, but he made up for it with standout performances in the other two sessions. In Q2, he laid down a 3.951-second run at 328.78 mph, which was the third-quickest of the session and earned him a bonus point. He closed qualifying with his best pass yet, a 3.917 E.T. at 326.87 mph in Q4, again collecting a bonus point and securing the No. 4 starting position heading into race day.
Eliminations began with Capps making his quickest run of the weekend, a stout 3.886 E.T. at 334.48 mph, to defeat Hunter Green, who ran into issues early. In the second round, Capps stayed on point with a 3.909-second pass at 333.41 mph to outrun Daniel Wilkerson’s 3.942, sending him to the semifinals while also clinching a spot in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge at the upcoming NHRA Sonoma Nationals. In the semifinals, Capps won a thrilling side-by-side race against Spencer Hyde, posting a 3.915 E.T. to Hyde’s close 3.918-second effort.
Capps, crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli, and assistant crew chief Tom ‘T-Buck’ Buckingham remained consistent in the final round against Matt Hagan. The NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra ran another solid 3.919 E.T. at 331.61 mph, but Hagan’s 3.904 held on for the win.
“I know we’re supposed to be upset right now, but it was an unbelievable weekend, really, in the scheme of things,” said Capps, who’s won in both Top Fuel and Funny Car at Seattle. “I can’t believe all the great racing in every category. We were watching NHRA.TV in between our runs and everybody was throwing down. Just such a great weekend. The fans had a blast. We had a lot of NAPA guests here, so throughout the weekend it was really fun. Guido was just picking away at it and it was fun for me to watch Guido, and T-Buck, and the guys approach each run with conditions changing and just knowing everybody was throwing down some of the best numbers. We made up a lot of ground in points and we’re fighting to get back into it for the regular season championship.”
Capps came up one win light short of doubling up with his recently announced new Ron Capps Motorsports teammate, Maddi Gordon, who will drive the team’s new Top Fuel dragster in 2026. She drove her family’s Top Alcohol Funny Car to victory earlier in the day to earn her third NHRA national event Wally.
“More than anything, I was bummed the most about not being able to double up with Maddi,” Capps said. “Watching her win earlier and knowing that she was probably down at the finish line and then to not see my win light…man, it was so close. We’re hoping to get that double-up soon.”
Capps will continue seeking his second win of the season in just a few days at Sonoma Raceway, which he considers one of his home tracks, host of the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, July 25-27.
This story was originally published on July 21, 2025. 
