Just days after a violent crash in the first round of eliminations at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, Ron Capps and his NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team were back in action at the 65th NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. A cross-country trip and days of thrashing paid off, as Capps went to the provisional No. 1 spot Friday at Pomona and ended up No. 3 in the stout field in his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra. An unlikely instance of near-immediate tire smoke in Sunday’s first round of eliminations prevented Capps from moving on, but the fourth-year driver and team owner found victory in his team’s ability to bounce back.
The Ron Capps Motorsports team’s effort after the Phoenix crash started with pulling out the backup car and preparing it for Pomona. Meanwhile, the team transported its spare chassis and body from Brownsburg, Indiana, to Pomona, where they got the car put together, scaled, warmed up, and race-ready should it get called into action at any point during the Winternationals.
“Talk about ‘NAPA Know How,’” Capps said. “It’s really incredible what this NAPA Auto Care team did when you think about what they put together this week on a few days’ notice, then to send me down the track at over 330 mph and be the provisional No. 1 qualifier, you can’t script that.”
In the first qualifying session, Capps and crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli turned heads with a flawless 3.852-second blast at 330.47 mph to run right to the No. 1 position, earning three bonus points as well. Capps was the quickest yet again in the second session, taking three more bonus points and the provisional No. 1 spot on the strength of a 3.830 E.T. at 328.94 mph. Capps was the fourth-quickest driver of the third session, posting a 3.878 E.T., narrowly missing out on the extra point. He overpowered the track in the fourth session and settled into the third spot going into Sunday eliminations.
Capps met up with Funny Car rookie Spencer Hyde in the first round of eliminations. The veteran Capps was off the starting line first, but the traction issue from Q4 reared its head again. Capps crossed the finish line second with a 4.989-second pass.
“On the last qualifying run, the car did something strange that Guido couldn’t quite pinpoint,” said Capps, winner of the 2021 Winternationals. “He thought we had it addressed. They spent all last night trying to figure out why it did what it did in Q4, then it did sort of the same thing today. It’s very rare for this car to have anything pop up. But what I love about this team is how they’re attacking it already. They’re thinking about Vegas. They’re figuring out why it did what it did. As an owner and a driver, that’s all you can ask for. I love the fact that they’re like technicians in a NAPA Auto Care center. You pull in and they’re going to pinpoint it one step at a time. They’re going to get it figured out, and we’re going to go to the next race and be the same awesome NAPA Auto Care team.”
A brief break in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule will provide the Ron Capps Motorsports team more time to prepare for the next stop on tour, the Four-Wide Nationals, April 11-13, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
This story was originally published on March 31, 2025. 
