Ron Capps Pre-Race Report: Indianapolis

RON CAPPS
Driver of the Carlyle Tools Funny Car

NHRA U.S. Nationals Event Highlights:

• Two-time event champion (2022, 2023)
• Three-time runner-up (2017, 2021, 2024)
• Two-time No. 1 qualifier (2022, 2023)

2025 NHRA U.S. Nationals Event Recap:
Qualified third; Quarterfinal finish (defeated Spencer Hyde in E1; defeated by Blake Alexander in E2)

Last Event (Brainerd):
Qualified 10th; Quarterfinal finish (defeated Cruz Pedregon in E1; defeated by Austin Prock in E2)

2026 Statistics:
13 races; three wins, one runner-up finish, two No. 1 qualifiers

Career Statistics:
681 races; 80 wins, 39 No. 1 qualifiers

Noteworthy:

• Enters the weekend from the No. 3 position and within striking distance of reclaiming the No. 1 spot, a ranking he previously occupied through nine of the first 13 races thanks to his three wins in four final round appearances
  • Capps is 12 points (less than one 30-point round of competition) out of first
  • Including Capps, four drivers are within 22 points of clinching the regular season championship (Matt Hagan, Jordan Vandergriff, J.R. Todd)
• Capps will match his Top Fuel teammate Maddi Gordon this weekend, as he’ll hit the track in a venom green Carlyle Tools scheme
• In addition to pursuing his fourth 75th anniversary diamond Wally, the two-time U.S. Nationals champ will compete in the Funny Car All-Star Callout specialty race on Sunday, an event he won in 2022
• Seeking his fifth U.S. Nationals final round appearance in six years after securing back-to-back wins from the pole in 2022 and ‘23, and a runner-up finish in 2021 and ‘24
  • Campaigned a special Don Prudhomme Army tribute livery in 2024 one year after winning the series’ flagship event in the Hot Wheels car, which also honored his former boss. Capps’ 2023 triumph in the ‘Snake’ Hot Wheels car came 50 years after Prudhomme won the 1973 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Funny Car
  • Capps’ 2022 triumph – his first at the Big Go – came after more than two-and-a-half decades of attempting to achieve a U.S. Nationals win
  • Capps’ 2024 final round outing in Indianapolis was the 150th of his career
• The Ron Capps Motorsports team is headquartered in nearby Brownsburg

Fan Events:

• Friday, 2:40 p.m., Capps and Gordon will join the Wes Buck Show, broadcasting live from the Nitro Alley stage
• Friday, 5:00 – 5:30 p.m., Ron Capps Motorsports driver autograph session, Carlyle Tools Outlaw trailer
• Saturday, 10:30 – 11:00 a.m., Ron Capps Motorsports driver autograph session, Carlyle Tools Outlaw trailer
• Saturday, 11:30 a.m., Capps, Gordon, and Carlyle Tools’ Joe Sabo join Hannah Rickards for a Q&A on the Nitro Alley stage
• Sunday, 9:30 – 10:00 a.m., Funny Car All-Star Callout driver autograph session, Mission Foods midway display
• Sunday, 10:00 – 10:30 a.m., Ron Capps Motorsports driver autograph session, Carlyle Tools Outlaw trailer

Quotable:
“It’s incredible to think how far our Ron Capps Motorsports organization has come this year since adding the Top Fuel team. If you would’ve told me at the beginning of the season that we’d be rolling into the U.S. Nationals with the success we’ve had, I don’t know that I would’ve believed it. Obviously, three diamond Wally trophies with the Funny Car team, including our double-up with the Carlyle Tools Top Fuel team and the Night Under Fire win and runner-up, is beyond what I thought we’d accomplish by this point in the year.

“Leading the points for as many races as we did, and having the success is all great, but it doesn’t mean a whole lot when you’re rolling into Indy, especially with this being a points-and-a-half race. There will be huge fields this weekend, regular-season championships on the line, and we’re excited about it. We’ve got a great Funny Car and get to break out the Carlyle Tools paint scheme again. Nothing would be better than to park both Carlyle cars in the winner’s circle at the end of the weekend. It’s a tall order, of course, but we’ve done it before, and we’d love to do it again at the U.S. Nationals.”