Four-time Topeka winner Ron Capps looking to continue building for Countdown

 By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Defending NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Funny Car champ Ron Capps is already in a solid position for the upcoming Countdown to the Championship playoffs, clinching his Countdown spot in the most recent race at Seattle.

Veteran NHRA Funny Car star Ron Capps has won four times at Heartland Motorsports Park, dating back to 1998, and is making his 600th career start this weekend. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Now the veteran driver, who is competing in the 600th NHRA race of his career in this weekend's Menards NHRA Nationals, will try to continue to strengthen his points position at a Heartland Motorsports Park facility he's extremely familiar with.

Capps has posted four Topeka wins in his career, the most recent in 2017, as well as a pair of runner-up finishes.

"Heartland Motorsports Park has always been one of those tracks where you can produce record-setting runs, and it’s always been a part of NHRA history, especially in Funny Car when you look back at the first Funny Car to go 300 miles per hour (by Jim Epler),'' Capps, who has 70 career wins and 33 No. 1 qualifiers, said in a team release.

"Personally, I’ve done well there and have had some big wins there, and I always look forward to the Topeka race.''

Capps, who is in his first season as a driver/team owner, is currently third in Funny Car points in the NAPA Auto Parts Toyota GR Supra, chasing points leader Robert Hight and No. 2 Matt Hagan.

“We’ve got two more races to go before we get to the U.S. Nationals and lock in our playoff spots,'' Capps said. “You don’t want to go into the U.S. Nationals and have to worry about positioning, and that’s what is so impressive to me about racing with ‘Guido’ (Dean Antonelli) and (John) Medlen, and our NAPA AutoCare guys.

"We’ve been consistent all year, and we know we can go to Indianapolis, try and score the Call-Out money, win that race, and not have to worry about where we are in the points. Topeka is a great track that can hold fantastic runs. We were able to test some things at the Night Under Fire match race last weekend, and I think that’s going to bode well for us in Topeka and Brainerd as we gear up for Indy at the end of this month.”

The first round of Funny Car qualifying is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, followed by a pair of qualifying sessions at 3 and 6 o'clock on Saturday.

Eliminations will begin at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

MENARDS NHRA NATIONALS PRESENTED BY PETARMOR

At Heartland Motorsports Park

EVENT SCHEDULE