In front of a sellout crowd at Firebird Motorsports Park, Funny Car star Ron Capps raced to victory in the final round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge. Behind the wheel of his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra, Capps defeated Alexis DeJoria and Matt Hagan to land in the winners circle for this race-within-a-race at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, earning the first #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the season which comes with a $10,000 check and three valuable championship bonus points.
The 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season is off to a good start for Capps. Two weeks ago, he finished runner-up at the season opener in Gainesville, Fla., qualifying him for this specialty race. The challenge features the four competitors who reached the semifinals at the previous event, offering the possibility of a little taste of redemption during qualifying on Saturday.
Competing in front of packed grandstands further buoyed the NAPA team and driver as Capps noted the dedication of the local fans in Arizona.
“We had our Mission Foods autograph session this morning at 8:30 a.m.,” remarked Capps. You wonder how many fans will be out at the track so early. There was a line that was a couple hundred people. That was cool and it showed us what kind of day it was going to be.”
Capps faced DeJoria in the first round of the specialty race created by series sponsor Mission Foods. DeJoria got the starting line advantage but went up in smoke before the finish line. Capps raced around her to turn on the win light. His stellar run of 3.988 seconds at 314.24 mph earned him lane choice for the next round where he faced Hagan.
Capps’s tuner Dean “Guido” Antonelli lined the NAPA Funny Car up in the right lane to face off with Hagan. The two had nearly identical reaction times but Hagan lost traction early, forcing him to shut off. Capps won with another fantastic pass going 3.989 at 318.24.
“I’m excited for myself but I’m even more excited for Guido and the team,” said Capps. “Last year was a rebuilding of sorts. We knew we had to change the setup to get ahead after winning two back-to-back world championships. Props to Guido and our NAPA Auto Care team for doing just that. This event brings out a lot of fun and makes qualifying even more exciting for everyone. I just keep thanking Mission. It’s a cool feeling when you get to the semifinals at a race and you know that you have the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge ahead of you at the next race.”
Capps and the NAPA team will take on Blake Alexander in the first round of eliminations at the NHRA Arizona Nationals on Sunday morning after qualifying fourth thanks to his Friday evening run of 3.912 at 323.50.
This story was originally published on March 23, 2025. 
