A red-light start by just two thousandths of a second ended Ron Capps’ mission to start the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship with a win in the second round at the NHRA Reading Nationals on Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway. Capps in his NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra laid down the second-quickest pass of the second round of eliminations after leaving the starting line too soon, proving that the three-time NHRA Funny Car world champion has a capable car as he pursues a fourth title. Capps will move on to the second race of the Countdown sixth in points.
Capps, who went into the weekend holding both ends of the Maple Grove Raceway track records, went into tire smoke in the first qualifying session on Friday, but he bounced back in a big way in the second session. Crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli tuned Capps to a 3.890 E.T. at 336.65 mph, Capps’ fastest pass of the season. That performance made Capps the provisional No. 5 qualifier going into Saturday’s two sessions. The first run of the day saw Capps smoke the tires again. A 3.961-second pass at 309.13 mph followed in the final session, with parachutes out early preventing Capps from improving on his 3.89-second best. He held on to the No. 5 spot for race day.
In the first round of eliminations against Buddy Hull on Sunday, Capps achieved a major milestone for Ron Capps Motorsports when he earned the 100th round win for the organization, which is in just its third full year in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. He nearly matched his qualifying effort with a 3.898 E.T. at 332.34 mph over a tire-smoking Hull. Capps moved on to the second round to race Bob Tasca III, but the race was over on the starting line when Capps moved just .002 seconds too soon, giving the win to Tasca. Capps still charged to a 3.915-second pass at 334.07 mph, which was the second-quickest performance of the round. Meanwhile, Tasca drove into tire smoke and coasted across the finish line.
“That was just a strange turn of events,” said Capps, a 30-year nitro veteran. “We went up there without lane choice, but we felt like we had a car that ran right with what Tasca and (Austin) Prock had run first round and we didn’t feel like the left lane was any worse, so we felt pretty good. Honestly, I didn’t think I hit the light that well. When we left the starting line, I actually thought I missed it a little bit. I ran it on down there, and I saw his win light come on when I hit the parachutes. I thought, ‘That was weird,’ and I was in total shock when they told me it was a red light.”
It was a dejecting loss for Capps as a driver, who spent plenty of time hitting the practice tree during the two weeks between the NHRA regular season finale, the 70th Toyota NHRA U.S. Nationals, and the Countdown kickoff at Maple Grove. But as a team owner, Capps was impressed by his team’s performance on race day.
“It was just a bummer for the guys because Guido and the NAPA Auto Care team did a tremendous job laying down that run that round without lane choice,” Capps said. “That was an iffy lane, and for us to go down it, it’s encouraging going forward knowing we’ve got as good a race car as anybody. I’ve just got to get back to where my head is straight. We’ll be fine, but it’s tough to lose these points in the Countdown knowing that we could have gained a couple more positions.”
Capps won’t need to dwell on his second-round exit for long, as he’ll get back to the championship pursuit at the NHRA Carolina Nationals, Sept. 20-22, at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.
This story was originally published on September 16, 2024. 
