RON CAPPS
Driver of the NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra
NHRA Arizona Nationals Event Highlights:
- Three-time event winner (2003, 2009, 2013)
- Five-time runner-up (1998, 2000, 2005, 2017, 2023)
- Three-time No. 1 qualifier (2000, 2009, 2016)
2023 NHRA Arizona Nationals Recap:
Qualified sixth; Event runner-up (defeated Alex Laughlin in E1, Blake Alexander in E2, Alexis DeJoria in E3; defeated by Robert Hight in E4)
Last Event (Pomona 1):
Qualified second; Semifinal finish (defeated Austin Prock in E1, Terry Haddock in E2; defeated by John Force in E3)
Career Statistics:
631 races; 76 wins, 37 No. 1 qualifiers
Noteworthy:
- By advancing to the semifinals at the most recent race in Pomona, Calif., Capps earned a spot in the second Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge of the season. Capps won the specialty race series presented by Mission Foods in 2023
- Made his professional debut at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park while competing in the Top Fuel category in 1995, which makes this weekend’s event the 30th anniversary of his first pro driving gig
- Appeared in his 10th final round as a team owner when he advanced to the finals at the 2023 event
Fan Events:
- Friday, April 5, 2:00 – 2:30 p.m., Mission #2Fast2Tasty driver autograph session at Mission Foods midway display
Quotable:
“Typically, heading to Phoenix during the race season would seem somewhat normal, but its anything but that this year. The fans, the racers, everyone is ecstatic about having Firebird back on the NHRA schedule and on top of that, there’s a lot of excitement going on at this race. We’ll have the rescheduled Pomona final on Saturday, which will be great for the fans. For us, our NAPA Auto Care team had a really good race car in Pomona. It was another one of those ‘would’ve, could’ve, should’ve’ weekends in Pomona, and I mean that in a good way. We made it to the semis, so we’ll be participating in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, which kicks off Friday evening. We’re racing John Force and it’s also the first round of qualifying, so this weekend is going to put a lot of extra pressure on a lot of teams especially since there will be more than 16 Funny Cars there. Plus, the fact that we’re going to have huge weather swings throughout the weekend. Firebird Motorsports Park is not shy about holding records in the past so if the conditions are there, we could quite possibly see track records fall. And, I always feel like Guido (crew chief Dean Antonelli) and our NAPA Auto Care team are one of the teams that can do it, so we’ll drag our Supra up there Friday night and see if we can’t set the tone for another good weekend. We’ve had a lot of success in the past there, final round last year again, and on top of it, a lot of friends and family are coming to the race, so it should be a great weekend.”