Ron Capps Races to Semifinal Finish at Texas NHRA FallNationals

ENNIS, Texas (Oct. 18, 2026) – Ron Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team advanced to the semifinals Sunday at the Texas NHRA FallNationals, closing an eventful weekend at the Texas Motorplex just outside of Dallas.

In qualifying, crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli tuned Capps’ 12,000-horsepower machine to a solid pass of 3.922 seconds at 330.11 mph in the first session on Friday afternoon. Tire smoke followed in the second session, leaving Capps in the provisional No. 13 spot.

On Saturday, Capps was on a strong run when, just as he crossed the finish line, the blower exploded, sending his Funny Car body flying off the chassis. The rear tires were airborne for several feet as Capps relied on his 30 years of drag racing experience to keep the car off the guard wall and slow to a controlled stop. Despite the dramatic finish, Capps recorded a 3.899 at 324.61, his best qualifying performance of the event.

The NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team immediately went to work, unloading the backup car within minutes of the incident and preparing for the final qualifying session. Their quick turnaround paid off as Capps returned to the track for Q4, making a solid shakedown pass of 3.965 at 327.44 mph.

Starting from eighth, the three-time Funny Car world champion faced No. 9 qualifier Chad Green, in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday. The duo left the starting line within two-thousandths of each other before Green ran into tire smoke while Capps charged ahead to pick up the first-round win.

In the quarterfinals, Capps got a clean launch against Jack Beckman and powered to another strong pass of 3.917 at 332.67 mph while Beckman drove into early tire smoke. It was another close drag race in the semifinals against J.R. Todd, but ultimately, Capps’ 3.933 was not enough to defeat Todd’s 3.912.

“This has always been a game-changing race,” said Capps. “We knew we needed to have a good weekend. We always love to see the Stampede of Speed on our schedule and sure enough, it was another great weekend. We did have a pretty exciting blow-up. It made a lot of highlight reels. But one great thing about having Guido and our NAPA Auto Care team is the way they attack something. They assess it just like they do when you pull your car into your local NAPA Auto Care. I mean, the way they went about seeing what was wrong on the run. The good thing was, we saved the chassis. I was able to keep it off the wall, luckily. But it was another harrowing experience. That’s not how you want to make television, but everything worked out. And I know I brag on social media about how we are the fastest motorsport by far, but we are also the safest. We got it done and got qualified with lane choice in the first round.

“Every round is tough as we get to these end-of-the-year races. We got to the semifinals. Great job by our guys to come back after what we did, put another body on it and go right back up there to make a great run. It just shows why I brag about the NAPA know-how they have. It was a great weekend and it gives us something to build on. We’ve got some confidence going into Vegas.”

Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team will head to the penultimate event of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, for the Mopar NHRA Nevada Nationals powered by Dodge at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Qualified: No. 8 (3.899 E.T. at 324.61 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.922 E.T. at 330.11 MPH defeated Chad Green 3.976 E.T. at 299.72 MPH
E2: 3.917 E.T. at 332.67 MPH defeated Jack Beckman 10.111 E.T. at 85.17 MPH
E3: 3.933 E.T. at 330.86 MPH defeated by J.R. Todd 3.912 E.T. at 333.01 MPH